THE FINE LINE
 
Ellen Wallace
Ellen Wallace
 

“In its highest form, a search has no well-defined object.” The blog post with this statement by writer Nicholas Carr (among his credits: former Harvard Business Review executive editor, IT and economy articles and books)  is probably too esoteric for your average Google user, but it’s an useful reminder of how a word that has been around a long time has taken on a new lease on life through a new meaning. To search once meant to seek.

Does it still?

Google now makes us look inward, based as it is on our previously shown preferences, rather than outward to the world we’re trying to explore, Carr argues.

There aren’t any big surprises here: “Google’s goal is no longer to read the web. It’s to read us.” And yet, it’s easy to forget this wasn’t how it started, but this is the way it has evolved. Take a moment to reflect on where it’s leading us.

Posted by :: Ellen Wallace on 16 January 2013 at 11:12 | permalink
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GenevaLunch, 16 January 2013.

Filed under: Society

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