What's After Google?

It all made me think, though, that storage and searchability are huge battlefronts in the future of 'net culture. In the world of search, Google is inadequate and even if it were adequate it doesn't make sense to give it so much power. My guess is that there will be, there should be eventual search engine models that work in different ways. Maybe even search engines that mirror our various perspectives a little bit. Either that, or materials will be grouped and archived in places that make them easier to search in a more specific and nuanced and efficient way than the Google page-rank system.

Over the course of the semester, we've spent a great deal of time looking at Google, its model and its implications. However, in the end, we only really scratched the surface of what Google is and what it could be. The above quote, from one of Colin's posts earlier this week, made me wonder what exactly is going to challenge Google to really innovate? Is anything going to or will Google become the next Microsoft, become complacent, put out second rate products content to only change minor issues until they really drop a true bomb and are forced to reassess?

It's fairly obvious that Google has figured out how to maximize the internet better than just about anyone else. If you think this isn't true, I'd like for you to explain to me how Google continues to put out products that people flock to (i.e. Gmail, Wave, Earth, Maps, etc.) almost compulsively. Watching the fervor over Google Wave invites has become almost comical. As soon as someone lets others know that they have an allotment, people immediately jump at the opportunity. I'm not even sure if these people who want a Wave invite even know what they're getting into or what they'll use Wave for. They just want to be a part of the excitement of the new cutting edge Google product. I'm probably as guilty as others when it comes to this but in my defense, I've been spending some serious time figuring out what Wave can do to help make my life easier.

I remember the craziness that followed the release of Windows 95. Midnight openings, lines out the store, general insanity. That was for an OS, something that a lower end computer user might not be able to fully understand the differences between A and B. For the cool concept programs that Google is slinging around, it's no wonder that the nerds and techies are losing their shits. The question is whether Google can keep it up.

If not, what happens? Ultimately, someone or something is going to have to come along and light a fire under Google by putting out a superior product that excites users. Microsoft is trying this with Bing with mixed results. Alexa has got it as the 20th most popular site on the web right now, which given it short lifespan thus far, is pretty impressive. Yet, who are these people that use it? Outside of it's initial release, during which commercials were everywhere, I haven't had a single conversation with someone where they've even mentioned Bing, much less suggested I use it. Microsoft advertises Bing as being the first "decision engine", suggesting that Bing can make choices for you. It's an interesting idea but I don't really see how it's being implemented on the site. Bing's searches are roughly the same as Google's and their search results pages are alittle more cluttered. I'm not sure whether it's just my being used to Google or what, but I'd much rather continue to use that as opposed to making the jump.

Still, the idea of a "decision engine" seems like a step in the right direction. Even the most adept Google searchers have moments of frustration trying to find the info you desire. There is a lot of stuff out there and it can be tough going at times. With a search that helps to point you towards sites that it'll think you'll like, it could eliminate a number of headaches. However, given the uproar earlier this year about cookies, how that site would know your browsing habits is a tough question, one that I don't have the answer to. I suppose that a search engine could link into a social network, given the user's permission, and determine interests that way but once again, I'm not sure I want to be searching for information and only being given what I already have an interest in, back.

This is why I'm not a computer programmer and it's why I would have failed during the .com boom. I don't have enough foresight to predict the future or think of the next biggest thing. I'd like to think that when something comes down the pipe, I can identify them but to think it up from scratch, that's a different story.

What do you think comes after Google (something will)? Maybe that isn't the best way to phrase the question since nothing has come "after" Microsoft seeing as how the big M is still rocking. Perhaps the better way to ask it is, what will out-Google Google? Who'll one up the kings of the internet as this still relatively young technology continues to grow?