Skip to main content

What's up with Google?

We are all familiar with the default search engine of the computing world. We have used it at least once if you happen to be stuck or lost in the world of the internet.
Then...
It offered us an email service with 4 gigabyte storage. I can access it through my email client using POP and through my mobile phone if I want to. I'll get back to this point later.
Then...
Google bought YouTube. YouTube is the video posting web site of the world. Period. Google Earth came to map the world and let us geographically pin our photos and videos just as we would on a map on the board.
Then it offered Office productivity softwares in the web. These applications are not downloaded to your hard drives but are accessible in any computer, whatever the operating system, as long as it is connected to the internet. These applications live and work with you in your browsers.
In my personal computing, I also use Picasa and Google reader. I have waited for a service like Picasa because when you want to post a picture or graphics in the web, you need to upload it first and Picasa provides this for free. And of course if your cup of coffee is blogging instead of social networking then you go to Blogger which is another Google creation.
I have an account by the way: http://donatoroque.blogspot.com/ if you want to catch me writing.
What is my point?
The search engine is free. The email account and the 4 gigabyte storage is free. The Blogger account is free. Office productivity applications, long the mainstay of Microsoft Office, is free if you use your browser and go to google docs. It does not mean utopia where everyone exists equally with another. But what it does to access to information is revolutionary.
Google is also part of the One Laptop Per Child project which aims to deliver a sturdy kid laptop to third world countries at a cost of $100 per laptop.
Google is also partnering with Universities and libraries around the world to scan books for digital access.
So to tie this to the local situation where the latest count of mobile phone users is about 30 million, google's broad offering for the computer user is beginning to shift to mobile users. The Philippine computer population is about 15,000 users. A transition to the mobile phone if done right is truly a revolution.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Password Issues On Ubuntu Login

I found myself unable to enter my login credentials when prompted to do so in Ubuntu. I think I might have changed it then forget about it. I've been running the current session for more days than I should have. I forget. So what's the solution to my problem. How do I get in to my system now? It involved getting into the grub menu somehow. I am uncertain as to how to do that exactly in your system. So there's a couple of ways to do it (finger's crossed). When booting at system start, use the esc key or the shift key. The first one worked for me. The timing is key. Wait until the bios banner shows then hit the esc key once. I am using Ubuntu 22.04.4 here. I have a current version of grub. The grub menu will give you options and the one you want is: root. Yes you want root privileges to set the root password. It should give you a terminal access where you can issue commands. Type: #mount -rw -o -s remount / ==> this command mounts the filesyste...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reflections On My Blogging: Keeping It Honest

When you're facing a white, blank screen trying to decide what to write, it seemed hopeless and hopeful at the same time. It's like watching a boat with its sails unfurled but there's no wind, yet you wait and then see the tide turning. You have to stop the distractions. Shut the door. Wait until your breathing is regular and your mind relaxed, like your wrists on the table infront of you. I imagine me looking sideways but not hearing anything. The sounds come much later. I see the big mass of color first, the greens. Just the vegetation, moving, not even individual trees, not leaves, just the big green. Then behind it the blue sky, unfocused and floating. Do not concern your brain with the details. Forget the words and the punctuations. But be mindful of the flow, trace the outlines, hear the motions. Sometime these things don't have a name, give it a name. How do you give something a name and still be honest? How do you keep your writing honest? I...
Post a Comment
Read more

Webapps in Unity

So it has been 4 months since Ubuntu 14.04 came out. This is LTS and supported for 6 years by Canonical. The first mobile device with Ubuntu pre-installed is promised to come out later this year, 2014. It's time to check out how the apps perform so far. It is a good idea. I use Gmail and Twitter and Facebook. Why not a webapp in a desktop? So I start the Twitter and Gmail webapp. So far it has crashed my computer 6 times. Not a very good sign. On the other hand it does work but not as stable as opening them in Firefox. -- Use my PGP key if you want to encrypt your replies/messages to me. You are invited to also send me your PGP keys so we can communicate in private.
Post a Comment
Read more