Google Street View

Google’s newest gadget has just blown me away. Not satisfied with close up satellite and aerial imagery from Google Maps? Well, now you can get a street-level view of the action! They have mapped every street in several major metropolitan areas now and will soon be bringing it to other areas. Go check it out- you can look and zoom in any direction!

I am actually pretty creeped out by the potential abuses of this system. Google is getting to be too powerful and is having too much of a Big Brother type influence. Their stated goal is to organize all of the world’s information. If they become the primary source for information, they will wield far too much power. I personally think they already wield far too much power. Think about this: when you are researching making a purchase online, you usually start with Google right? That means that the #1 search result position is worth billions of dollars on some searches (mortgage, clothes, porn, etc.) Google can choose to direct, or not direct, billions of dollars of business at your website. When looked at as an aggregate whole, Google has far too much control on the online sales- an industry worth trillions. Not only can Google decide what sites you purchase from, they can choose what information to display about political opinions, situations, etc. Let’s say a presidential candidate badmouths Google… they could choose not to display any relevant information about him, thus making him irrelevant in today’s connected world.

Google makes me nervous.