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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Discover the future of search - today., 20 Feb 2006
I found this a really interesting book. It’s not a ‘history of Google’ story (look at ‘The Google Story’ by David Vise, if that’s what you’re after); although Google’s evolution features throughout. It’s a ‘history of search’ story, which provides insights into Yahoo, Alta Vista, Google and the other main players. It’s also an essay on what ‘search’ could be, how it could change everything and what we should expect in future.The highlights for me were:
The realisation that the ‘database of intentions’ (Battelle’s term for the as yet unrecorded database of all our collective searches) would be an incredible archive of the developed world’s interests at any point in time. How TV advertising could become a function of the programmes you watch. How cool mobile search would be (scan a barcode into a PDA to see if another local retailer has he item you’re after for less). The positives and negatives of everything recorded about us being searchable, and the implications for privacy (like ‘reverse directory lookup’ – type in a phone number and Google returns a name and address). The prospect of all our stuff being searchable (eg our kids having indexed digital photo albums instead of cardboard ones gathering dust). The reasons behind Google acquiring other little companies that can help it produce things like Google Earth and Google Print. The reason other traditionally non-search internet players (such as Amazon with its A9 search engine) are taking an interest in search. The amazing possibilities of ‘perfect search’…. So don’t be left behind – buy your copy now.
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by David A. Vise
by Randall E. Stross
by Don Tapscott
