Is Google Now A Disparate Bunch Of Programs? How do u link them together?

[soccermage 0]

If you look at google now, it's a bunch of disparate programs waiting to be coherently linked together. It looks like those little programs that early days computer enthusiasts used to put together. Maybe that's why their laid-back air is so popular with the masses.But will googlemania finally die out one day when they fail to link these separate parts together? If they succeed, then what they achieve is a new WEB altogther.

[Cassandra1405241487 0]

They are already starting to link the programs together. When one tries to log into a Google Adwords account which isn't linked, one is informed that AdWords users will soon be required to link their accounts. They give detailed (and good) instructions for deciding how to do this, depending mainly on one's security demands, but for most private users the first stage will be to link their AdWords and AdSense accounts to their GMail accounts. I gather that if one does this, there will be some kind of easy-navigation tabs, but I haven't figured out how to do it yet.When I set up a system for tracking my Google SiteMaps, using my GMail address for login, I discovered that the Google SiteMaps gadget was automatically linked to my GMail account.In other words, they're getting there.

[James_K 0]

I dont think google has ever been despreate I mean if you look at CNN/tech and you see something about the hosts of google I think they were just as suprised as we were on the big google boom I think they just got lucky and want to return it back into the public I mean they already donated millions into charity since they've been public yah it might die one day, one long day away but I dont think it was ever thier goal to create such a big ruccus about it hopefully though they'll keep evlolving and creating useful things for us

[twitch 0]

Would you say Microsoft is a desperate bunch of software? No, you wouldn't, so why should it be any different for any other application or business.In the world, businesses and organisations thrive on growth and expansion. By conquering as many areas as possible, they open themselves up to a larger market, therefore bringing more income. From the start of Google, it was clear that this was going to be a business that would expand to new limits. In a sense, every business/organisation is desperate, in the fact that they need customers to stay active, then to grow.As I have almost completed my GCSE on Business and Communication Systems (BCS) at school, I have learnt a lot about businesses, and so much so that I would say, put in the position of Google, I would do exactly the same. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, and if you are the one with all the ideas, then you are the leader of the pack.

[jipman 0]

Since 99,9% of the computer peeps like the idea of having bundled software with all bells and whistles attached to it. Companies strategy-departments probably will play into that by giving bundled software with all bells and whistles.Did you know, google knows a lot about you.If you have Gmail they know what you send and receive and get your IP too. If you use google search they know what you are interested in and what you are looking for. With google talk they know who your friends are. With googlemaps they know what places you are interested in.It wouldn't surprise me if the Feds or the CIA made some kind of sneaky deal with google to let them search for terrorist thingies :PSeriously, my point with this is that with that bundling up, people gradually lose their privacy, and they are happy about it too, because they can now easily access their emails and talk to their friends without hassle ;)Side note. It does seem that more and more people are crossing over to Opensource software doesn't it? At least something good happened...

[ruben1405241511 0]

Hi all,just yesterday I was interviewed for a statistical program (chat-interview, about an hour, I applied for it). The interviewer asked me about a new web feature and if I would like it: it was a little something which ought to save your personal information and make it accessible to the services you want to access. I kind of liked the idea (no more writing down your personal stuff, ged rid of routine, decide who knows what, protect your emailadress from crawlers) and I also said that I would sacrifice some privacy for the convenience.This also occurs to what jipman is talking about:I use a convenient service, which offers me a lot of possibilities, but all my information is linked together (makes it easier for me to be tracked down, if I'm involved in illegal activites. not only terrorism...)But shouldn't the focus here be on the law? I mean instead of using ten anonymous remailers, going into internet over a proxy and whatever paranoid people and terrorists do, you could try to get a right for privacy.In Germany we have something like this, I don't know the exact conditions but not everyone can be monitored by the BND (BundesNachrichtenDienst, secret service) if he wasn't involved in crimes or something (I guess they spent some thinking on this).So as a German citizien I do not feel as if I had to protect my privacy, because they can not take it that easily.If you are living in a country where you do not have privacy as a spotless person, then you are living under the wrong law!When you have to be worried because the Feds (they monitor Netherland citiziens too? they have a big budget and catch few if this the case ) know where you are going and who your friends are? Sorry, but then you are probably involved in illegal activites or paranoid.The only thing I would be worried about is the Email, this is really personal, but I sure hope, that no one reads me emails without me knowing. If that is the case again: wrong law!I don't want to have to protect my privacy by technical means, it should (and is here) be covered by the law.So the punchline is: If you live in china, don't execute google-services, you might get executed yourself Might apply to other privacy-unfriendly countries too (jipman mentioned the USA).----------Opensource software:Well I use Firefox, Adium X and Azureus and aMule (maybe some other apps that I'm not sure about and I don't use often) as a normal user. But I wouldn't say the trend goes to open soure. There ARE some terribly good apps out there like Firefox, that just go without concurrence, but I still think other apps are more popular and unlikely to be beaten.A lot of the cases, where people (I ^^) use open source software, is filesharing. Because by a minor change of law, an app might become obsolete/forbidden (and the responsibles busted), no one (of the good companies) considers making a filesharing app anymore.Another field of use is where opensource is used, is the internet, probably because it is developing so fast :Pdamn huge post ^^ but I think a lot about these issues.Ruben

[jipman 0]

America has an agreement with the netherlands to allow them to come and get criminals that have done something evil against america . The dutch government is also pushing the isp's to keep more records of what their subscribers do on the net.

I'm not really a criminal mastermind though, although i do happen to do some bit of pranks once in a while.

btw ruben, you mean that you want to be able to leave the house with the door right open?

I don't want to have to protect my privacy by technical means, it should (and is here) be covered by the law.

Call me paranoid, but you trust your government too much, they are just people like you and me, and not some failsafe machine that guards everyone of us. And seeing which lame laws they are trying to pass again here (tax on mp3 players), with everytime they think up of something this useless again, I lose a bit more confidence in them.

[ruben1405241511 0]

Hi jipman, congrats that you can be shot by some Fed every second because you once surfed confident websites :-)Yes, I would really like to be able to leave my house with the door open (and considering my current financial situation I could do so :-/ ), but of course this would be naïve and not to be recommended. There is a difference though, because there I would have to fear every jerk that walks by. But now we're talking governmental issues, which means that my Chancellor can see what I'm writing in my emails or not. That other people are able to do this, if I don't protect myself well, is clear, but then it would be illegal (and the services I use try to protect me from it).I don't know if this is the common way to feel inconfident about the government (I can't judge a country where people vote for dead fascists :-/ ) in the Netherlands, but even though I do not agree with the German government in many points, I think that the way to go, is the politicial one: fighting for my privacy if they try to take it. But not by using technology but by using the right of free speech. The good thing about the government being no fail-safe machines is that you can talk to them and that YOU can be the government yourself (or at least a minor part voting for the one you want). If you feel that a tax on mp3-players is wrong (I don't think so, they are luxury goods and putting tax on them probably doesn't make poor people poorer), then speak up against it. In a country where everyone just lives his way and if law interferes he bypasses it, you don't have to wonder, if the Feds shoot you in your own home. Use your rights as a citizien or you might lose them. Frustration isn't helping nobody.Sorry for the big topic drift, if you guys still want to talk about Google's coherence we might open a new thread in Science Talk or something.

[Sarah81 0]

Google's not desperate - they kick major butt in the search engine wars, so they're trying to expand and see what else they can do. They're growing, is all. It might seem a little messy right now, but that's how things usually go when any corporation is trying to spread out and see what else it can do in the field.The big difference is that Google wasn't forced to diversify. Which, as you recall, is how the XBox came into existence *smirks*

[HTML_Guru 0]

Google's no longer just a search engine; hell, Google's no longer just an internet program! Google has become a corporation, and it's spreading fast. It seems every other week they have another software program to download, or another tool to use.How long till the Google proprietors are deemed king of Earth?

[sparx 0]

A quick little reply from me - the original post wondered if Google had a disparate set of programs. Essentially, soccermage is talking about the services offered by Google and how they can be better integrated with each other. Somewhere down the line, we've drifted off into asking whether Google has become desperate...

 

IMHO, none of these companies are desperate and frankly they have no cause to be.

 

Returning on-topic -- the various services offered by Google have now begun being solemnly available to the public under ONE user-name. This is in keeping with Google's business philosophy of being a search engine first and then trying to connect the world and bring them under the collective Google umbrella of services. Why does anyone go to Google? Primarily to search for something rather than to use their services like Mail, RSS, Maps, Blogspot, AdWords etc. They are leveraging their services on what they know and do better than others - search and innovate. With almost 75 - 80% of their services still in supposed BETA mode, one will slowly but surely see greater integration in the future.