[Dean's World] Aziz P: Google's bum rap

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Aziz P:
Google's bum rap
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1149604932.shtml


   Dean has been highly critical of Google, but I feel that this is
   rather unfair. I agree that Google has much to be critiqued for, but I
   just can't accept that a corporation has any obligation to do anything
   other than profit. Ultimately, the primary responsibility for liberty
   is upon the people who seek that liberty; corporations can not be our
   saviours, only ourselves. It is true that the technological, economic
   and intellectual impact of a given corporation's product may help the
   cause of liberty, however - and to that end, Google does far more good
   than harm, by bringing more of the Internet to Chinese citizens than
   they'd have in Google's absence. In one respect, as long as the
   Chinese government is obsessed with eradicating references to
   [1]Tiananmen square, they are probably missing out on the far more
   [2]subversive , [3]subtle , and [4]threatening stuff. In this regard,
   Google excels, because there is simply no way to truly filter out
   every possible discussion out there on the web of these concepts of
   liberty.

   And don't forget the secondary benefits that Google has brought to our
   own liberty. Google helps us fact-check the media, hold politicians to
   account, and create communities of like-minded citizens. Before
   Google, it was a crapshoot; now with Google raising the bar, all
   [5]alternative search sites are immeasurably improved.

   Many accuse Google of hypocrisy, based on their motto, "Do No Evil".
   Again, this is misguided in my opinion - what ever has a motto been
   other than a marketing ploy? If anything, the DNE motto of Google has
   been more of an influence on the corporate atmosphere and the general
   tenor of their business decisions in a business context.

   And if we are to castigate Google for not living up to their
   (impossibly high-standard) motto, then what about Wal-Mart? I am sure
   that I don't "Always" see low prices there. And I definitely have been
   abused by gate agents for United Airlines before - hardly what I'd
   call the "friendly skies". Heck, I just had a hamburger at McDonald's
   yesterday and let me tell you, I wasn't "lovin' it". There are plenty
   of companies whose corporate mottos are meaningless pap, and who still
   fail to meet the (rather low) bar. Do we want to encourage companies
   to play it safe or should we applaud one when it actually sets its
   goals higher?

   As for Memorial Day - Google primarily highlights international
   holidays and birthdays of famous people. Really though - is it a big
   deal that Google doesn't highlight Memorial Day? Is it really evidence
   of some kind of perfidy? I mean, does that really pass the common
   sense test?

   Logically, you can't infer something froma negative. And it would be
   worse to have a kind of political correctness operating on that day of
   all days, forcing everyone to pay it lip service. What I like most
   about Memorial Day is its authenticity; I feel it is already eroding
   in teh wake of encroaching commercialism, and this ridiculous
   offense-taking campaign against Google IMHO only cheapens it further.

   The worst attack upon a principle is to make obeisance to it mandatory
   rather than voluntary. I see the outrage over Memorial Day and Google
   to be manufactured, by the usual scalp-hunters for whom everything -
   absolutely everything - is just another pile of grist for their
   political agenda mill. And to them, truly, nothing is sacred. Who is
   abusing memorial Day more?

References

   1. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&hs=qub&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=Tiananmen+square&spell=1
   2. http://www.google.com/search?hs=sub&hl=en&lr=&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=adam+smith+wealth+of+nations&btnG=Search
   3. http://www.google.com/search?hs=qGH&hl=en&lr=&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&q=edmund+burke&btnG=Search
   4. http://www.google.com/search?q=+John+Stuart+Mill&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official
   5. http://ask.com/