TheAgitator.com
Googlin’
Monday, March 29th, 2004Here’s a spiffy list of some of the cool stuff Google does, including:
Google is the Department of Motor Vehicles. Type in a VIN (vehicle identification number, which is etched onto a plate, usually on the door frame, of every car), like “JH4NA1157MT001832,” to find out the car’s year, make, and model.Google is an aviation buff. Type in a flight number like “United 22″ for a link to a map of that flight’s progress in the air. Or type in the tail number you see on an airplane for the full registration form for that plane.
Google is a package tracker. Type a FedEx or UPS package number (just the digits); when you click Search, Google offers a link to its tracking information.
Google is Wal-Mart’s computer. Type in a UPC bar code number, such as “036000250015,” to see the description of the product you’ve just “scanned in.”
Neato.
Google will also give you a name and address if you search a phone number.
As a web application designer/programmer, Google never ceases to amaze me.
But it’s also amazing and scary how much stuff is out there. Every try an Image search on your name? My friend did once and saw a picture of himself in a not-so-great pose. He didn’t even know that picture existed.
Not to be a downer, but all of these examples show why Google will inevitably be the target of antitrust regluators and lawyers in the near future. The Brits have already started discussions of a government bureay to regulate web search engines.
Skip — so true.
They will go after it simply because it is the dominant entity in that marketplace.
It will not matter to the regulators that it got that way by consumers recognizing that it is the best choice for what it does, as opposed to restricting others’ ability to compete with it (heaven knows there are plenty of Google/Yahoo! wannabes out there, but nobody is visiting them — despite a few who try to latch on to you with spyware, popunders, and “do you want to set your homepage to …” messages).
This would be an even more egregious abuse of antitrust protection than with Microsoft … problem is, this kind of antitrust action plays well with the populist “get the rich guys” sentiments of much of our population, so our leaders will be tempted to do it.
Rich, it’s not so much a “get the rich guys” mentality (though it does exist) than it is the belief that once a product or company becomes popular, it ceases to exist as purely private property and becomes a quasi-public utility that must act in the “public interest.” This isn’t even a direct outgrowth of antitrust law, evil as it is, but of Ralph Nader “consumerism.”
I quote from the “Drug War Idiocy” thread….
“is anyone else troubled by the fact that cops are permitted to comb utilities records for suspiciously high electric bills? What other records are they allowed access to? Can they look through your cable bill to see what pay-per-view movies you’re ordeing?”
My question: would a libertarian have a problem with cops accessing the above information through Google, were it available?