Google Universe

There has been quite a bit of press for Google this week. A lot of chatter about Facebook looking at competing offers from Google and Microsoft for a minority share of the company. At the Educause Annual Conference held in Seattle this week there was discussion about Northwestern University contracting out their email system to Google. The new email service will still have the students using an .edu email domain but with the Google interface and other Google applications.

Don’t get me wrong, trying to determine the dates of the Educause conference I used my Google search box sitting in my tool bar in my Firefox browser. I love Google for my personal use and I believe that Google feels that the benefit of providing this email service to Northwestern is in their students developing that same sense of comfort with Google.

My discomfort rises from the dominance of Google online. I don’t believe that any one company (benevolent or not) should have this much influence. Some would argue that Google has stimulated and energized its competitors to develop more useful, dynamic tools. Who is competition for Google at this point? Yahoo? There are many providers of online services that provide exceptional products that are very focussed such as Meebo, del.icio.us, Flickr, and Twitter. Ask.com, formally know as Ask Jeeves represents Google’s major competition IMHO but they don’t come close to having the same footprint online.

It is somewhat ironic that Microsoft’s $240 million won the exclusive right to sell advertising on Facebook. Obviously Google realized the potential for even more online advertising revenue is critical to its success. In creating such online dominance, Google is becoming the new Microsoft.

I’m back

I chose not to post to my blog during my recuperation period as some days just pulling my ass out of bed seemed overwhelming. Today, I am feeling like I am at about 90% and I have a light schedule, so ta dah! I was cruising my blogs when I saw a reference to Walt Crawfords’s blog with the tagline, “honesty is the best policy”.

I am struggling with being honest at the moment. I recently went on a job interview to another institution of higher education and found myself feeling ambivalent about not only that interview but my current career path. I never thought of myself as someone who would job hop. My parents cultivated in us a strong work ethic and sense of loyalty to your employer. However, much of that environment that formed their sense of right and wrong when it came to employers, doesn’t exist anymore.

That is not to say that my MPOW hasn’t been good to me and for me in the past. I am just struggling with my next step and trying to balance a sense of loyalty with my professional needs. I don’t know if the recent interview would provide me with better opportunities but after six years in one place I am willing to explore the possibility.