The brainstorm company founded by two Stanford University graduate students in 1995 is taking over the hearts and minds of bloggers and journalists, or so it seems based on the ever-increasing amount of ink (or pixels as it were) devoted to Google. Today alone the sphere is swamped with items about Google’s decision to temporarily abandon its library project. Google’s plan to scan books from university libraries met with stiff copyright objections from the Association of American University Presses.
And the chatter continues about Google’s supposed foray into the instant messaging business with a purported buy of meetroduction. The web’s also aflame with Google’s rumored deal with Apple’s iTunes.
Of course there’s the ongoing speculation that Google will buy VoIP supernova Skype.
Now Om Malik has come out with the suggestion that Google should just seal its seemingly omnipotent status by developing competition to cable and phone companies by building nationwide wireless networks.
There’s no sign that the Google-mania among business journalists, bloggers and investors will ever end. But why? Is it because Google’s deceptively simple plan to make the web searchable and customizable is fundamentally an all-powerful concept that gives Google gatekeeper status to all things IP-based?
While Yahoo is giving Google competitive jitters, Yahoo doesn’t generate the intense interest, fear or fascination that Google does. Google is no doubt a revolutionary company with the financial and techncial wherewithal to enter all kinds of businesses — video, audio and even broadband transmission — but it’s mind-boggling just how much this company dominates the news.
Cynthia Brumfield at 9:12 AM|Comments(0)
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