'Planet Google' by Randall Stross explores the inner workings and cultural impact of one of the most influential companies in the world. Stross delves into the company's secretive operations, innovative technologies, and ambitious goals, revealing a corporate giant that reshapes how we access information. With insights into Google's unique corporate culture and its implications for society, the book raises questions about privacy, data ownership, and the future of information. Readers will be captivated by the contrast between Google's idealistic mission and the realities of its influence on daily life. This engaging narrative not only chronicles the rise of Google but also invites reflection on the digital era we inhabit.
By Randall Stross
Published: 2008
"In the age of information, success is not just about having the right answers, but the courage to ask the right questions."
Based on unprecedented access he received to the highly secretive "Googleplex," acclaimed New York Times columnist Randall Stross takes readers deep inside Google, the most important, most innovative, and most ambitious company of the Internet Age. His revelations demystify the strategy behind the company's recent flurry of bold moves, all driven by the pursuit of a business plan unlike any other: to become the indispensable gatekeeper of all the world's information, the one-stop destination for all our information needs. Will Google succeed? And what are the implications of a single company commanding so much information and knowing so much about us? As ambitious as Google's goal is, with 68 percent of all Web searches (and growing), profits that are the envy of the business world, and a surplus of talent, the company is, Stross shows, well along the way to fulfilling its ambition, becoming as dominant a force on the Web as Microsoft became on the PC. Google isn't just a superior search service anymore. In recent years it has launched a dizzying array of new services and advanced into whole new businesses, from the introductions of its controversial Book Search and the irresistible Google Earth, to bidding for a slice of the wireless-phone spectrum and nonchalantly purchasing YouTube for $1.65 billion. Google has also taken direct aim at Microsoft's core business, offering free e-mail and software from word processing to spreadsheets and calendars, pushing a transformative -- and highly disruptive -- concept known as "cloud computing." According to this plan, users will increasingly store all of their data on Google's massive servers -- a network of a million computers that amounts to the world's largest supercomputer, with unlimited capacity to house all the information Google seeks. The more offerings Google adds, and the more ubiquitous a presence it becomes, the more dependent its users become on its services and the more information they contribute to its uniquely comprehensive collection of data.
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“In the age of information, success is not just about having the right answers, but the courage to ask the right questions.”
Planet Google
By Randall Stross
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Randall Stross is an accomplished author and journalist known for his insights into the intersection of technology, business, and society. His notable works include 'The Launch Pad: Inside Y Combinator, Silicon Valley's Most exclusive School for Startups,' where he explores the world of startup incubation, and 'The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Edison Invented the Modern World,' which provides a compelling look at Edison's impact on innovation. Stross's writing style blends thorough research with engaging narrative, making complex subjects accessible to a general audience, and he often incorporates historical context to illuminate contemporary issues.
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