Rattle wrote:
] Dave Winer wrote:
] ] There's an essay lurking in here, but I've been reluctant
] ] to write it. Here's what it would say. Up till now Google
] ] has done really well with the low-key,
] ] we-let-our-software-speak-for-us approach to public
] ] relations. But that method doesn't work now. People are
] ] confused about what Google is.
]
] Ok. Good. I'm glad I saw this. I'm not nuts. Apparently,
] I'm also not the only one trying to wean myself off Google.

Wow, this "Google is Evil" meme is really starting to gain traction! It kind of reminds me of that time when everyone suddenly decided that Michael Jackson wasn't cool anymore. Next thing we heard from the guy, he was having sex with a monkey!

Its been a long time since Wired Magazine started a successful Meme. I thought we all decided that Wired was evil back when they put Push Technology on the cover. I thought we all said we were going to stop reading Wired. Right!? I think you guys are all a bunch of closet Wired readers! Um, well, actually I guess I would have had to have read Wired in order to know that they started this meme, so I guess I'll just shut up about that.

So, Google... I mean, the thing is, like, Google has *60* PHDs! **60** The computer science department at Georgia Tech doesn't have *60* PHDs! What the hell do these people DO?? Yeah, Google works really well, and its really hard to scale something like to that level, and I respect that and so on and so forth, but *60* PHDs. It just doesn't seem like Google has changed all that much while I've been using it. It doesn't take a PHD to load DMOZ data into your website! If I had 60 PHDs for as long as Google has had them I'd have revolutionized the entire computing industry by now!

To be fair to Google, I use their news agent every day. That is new. And its hard. And they don't make any money off of it. They are aggregating all the news content for me and they are doing it for free. Its hard to be a jerk to someone who does something like that for you.

And they bought Pyra. The thing is that Pyra had VC funding. There are influential people (like Tim O'Reilly) who have a need to sell Pyra to someone, so Pyra got bought. I wish I had VC funding. In an interview this week Marc Andresson said that the reason no one is getting funding right now is because "there aren't any good ideas."

Ok Marc, let me explain something. I know that your mom said that "TV would rot your brain" and when you got older you found out that TV really doesn't rot your brain. But that stuff those guys in East Palo Alto are selling you... It really really does rot your brain. We're serious this time. Really. We mean it. STOP smoking crack. Stay OUT of East Palo Alto.

OK, so am I going to stop using Google? I don't know. To be honest with you, I really didn't want to stop listening to Michael Jackson. I liked Michael Jackson. But I didn't have a choice. Any kid caught listening to Michael Jackson in 1987 was better off dead. I had to stop. It just wasn't cool anymore and my friends just weren't going to have any of it. Maybe it will be the same way with Google. Maybe I'll have to rename my Google toolbar link to "Altavista" and hope nobody clicks on it. Maybe I'll have to become a closet Googler.

Of course, maybe Google will take Pyra and turn it into MemeStreams, but better then anything we've produced. Maybe MemeStreams will fade into obscurity. Maybe when I explain it to people they'll say "Oh, its basically another Bloogle." And I'll really want to kill them. Then I'll stop using Google. Because it will just piss me off. I'll bet thats what Dave Winer is feeling.

Google is Evvile