[Week8] GOOOOOOOOGLE.

Let’s start by saying I simply LOVE Google. These essential open letters that Larry and Sergey take turns authoring are great for the public. It really allows you to trust the company as they make it seem like they’re laying everything out for you right there—there’s nothing to hide. I also can appreciate each of the presidents taking on the visual aesthetics of the letter and personalizing it for themselves: Larry, the more traditional, cut and dry type and Sergey, the more image oriented, visually interesting approach. I can appreciate that. It is clear that they haven’t lost themselves since they started Google in 1998. They keep it open, giving new meaning to the term open source.

One thing that I really like about all this is how they stay true to what Google was founded on: the search. They work diligently and continue striving to create a better product with that, as that is their most successful and important feature. Without Google search, the world would be a lot different. Accessing information would be a lot different, and they know this. I love how they break down their most important projects for consumers to understand what exactly is going on. You can read the 2007 report and see things discussed in terms of GoogleDocs and Android and see the finish products out today for out use.

The biggest thing that stuck out to me in the 2009 report was the mention of the Chrome OS. That is scary. I’ve heard great things about the Chrome web browser but if Google took over my entire OS, which would be amazing and scary at the same time. I am a traditionalist. I have a Mac. I use Safari. I don’t like Firefox and have no desire to try Chrome. But for others, it’s totally different. It should be interesting to the see how the relationship between Apple and Windows is after an OS is introduced. I know Apple isn’t happy with the Android OS competing against the iPhone so it should be interesting. At the end of the day, I trust Google. They have the consumer’s benefit in mind with everything they do, as they know the impact of their products. We have seen what these first 11 years have done to the Google-lized web. Let’s see what happens with the next ten.