If you’re anything like me, you don’t like mega-corporations that control what we see and try to influence how we think. So that as Google finds itself in trouble in European courts, part of me rejoices at potential limitations on their power. But as of late I’ve begun to see that in fact, Google is well-poised to take over the world, mostly for these five reasons.
1. Google Now
Although Google is not as old or as rich as Apple, their personal assistant beats Siri hands down. In the latest update to Google Now, you can be reminded of when to pay your bills (very 2015). Who knows what to expect next from their virtual helper?
2. Google Play
Over the past couple of years, Google Play has gone from attention-catching to ubiquitous, so that most emerging musicians put their album on Play before Spotify. They pretty much have to if they want Google to rank them higher in their search results.
3. Google Drones
Imagine ordering something online and minutes later having it delivered outside your door via a hovering artificially intelligent drone winching the package onto your doorstep and then buzzing across the sky to its next destination. Sound crazy? Well maybe it is, but that’s what Google is working on next. These drones are almost ready for deployment; what’s stopping them is airspace restrictions from the government, Google’s greatest foe. Over the next five years however, as technology improves and other companies such as Amazon and FedEx start to develop drone programs of their own–and most importantly people become accustomed to the idea of a drone delivery service–expect the world to change.
4. Google Chauffeur
Only four states allow self-driving cars, California and Florida among them, though over the next ten years we can expect many more to join the ranks. Robotic cars require about $150,000 worth of technology, so it will probably be a while before people no longer need driver’s licenses. But with the light radar (lidar) technology that generates 3D maps of the world and synthesizes them with Google’s other maps, the technology is already in place for Google to control where you go.
5. Google Search
This may seem obvious, but let me just confirm that for someone who works in SEO, an industry worth billions, I know that when Google says jump, we ask how high. If you’re at all skeptical about the other four reasons on this list for Google’s attempt at world domination, let me just remind you that this is what they’ve always done. Don’t be surprised if your kids tell you to ‘Google it.’
The one they won’t–Google Glass
I will say that Google sometimes gets a little too big for its britches and forgets that people don’t want their lives constantly disrupted by technology. Google Glass is a good example of how Google could fail to take over the world: if they forget how we value privacy. When Glassholes came onto the scene this became apparent because everyone worried that in face to face conversations they would record us or have access to our internet secrets. This led to the general repudiation of this technology, which, let’s face it, never looked cool to begin with. It’s highly likely that Glass will be one of those products future generations look back on affectionately as a sign of the times, in other words, a fad. The above as well, especially numbers 3 and 4, could also fall prey to higher barriers of privacy.
So, did I miss anything? Do you think Google will ever assume the same authority as our government or will their hamfisted approach to privacy and nerd-vaunting arrogance destroy them from the inside? Leave your opinion below.
The post 5 Reasons Google Will Take Over the World (And One They Won’t) appeared first on Tradical 360 Blog.
