this is supposed to be a good thing?

in yesterday’s Financial Times, Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, says:

Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, said gathering more personal data was a key way for Google to expand and the company believes that is the logical extension of its stated mission to organise the world’s information.

Asked how Google might look in five years’ time, Mr Schmidt said: “We are very early in the total information we have within Google. The algorithms will get better and we will get better at personalisation.

“The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask the question such as ‘What shall I do tomorrow?’ and ‘What job shall I take?’ ”

that doesn’t seem like a particularly good vision of the future. in fact, it seems sort of blade runner deterministic to me. grim.

for some reason, made me think of the Sports Night episode where they kept talking about something bad but indescribable coming:

Dan Rydell: Eli’s Coming.
Casey McCall: Eli?
Dan Rydell: From the Three Dog Night song.
Casey McCall: Yes?
Dan Rydell: Eli is something bad, a darkness.
Casey McCall: “Eli’s coming. Hide your heart, girl.” Eli is a inveterate womanizer. I think you’re getting the song wrong.
Dan Rydell: I know I’m getting the song wrong. But, when I first heard it, that’s what I thought it meant. Things stick with you that way.
—-
Dan Rydell: They say it’s always calmest before the storm. That’s not true. I’m a serious sailor. It isn’t calm before the storm. Stuff happens.

8 comments

  1. This is particularly freaky given David’s post.

  2. This is particularly freaky given David’s post.

  3. I’m surprised that Schmidt used the words “total information” together. Immaterial of what he meant or was referring to, the last time we were faced with a “total information” program, it didn’t go over very well.

  4. I’m surprised that Schmidt used the words “total information” together. Immaterial of what he meant or was referring to, the last time we were faced with a “total information” program, it didn’t go over very well.

  5. Totally not related to the meat of your post, which I tend to agree with, but that’s one of my favorite episodes of Sports Night. That reference draws a distinct picture in my head of what you are feeling right now.

    A large part of Firefox’s success was built on keeping Internet users safe. What happens when we reach the point where we need to start keeping people safe from Google as well? That, sir, is going to be a hard day.

  6. yay! someone understood my reference! i was thinking it was maybe too esoteric & weird… 🙂

  7. Totally not related to the meat of your post, which I tend to agree with, but that’s one of my favorite episodes of Sports Night. That reference draws a distinct picture in my head of what you are feeling right now.

    A large part of Firefox’s success was built on keeping Internet users safe. What happens when we reach the point where we need to start keeping people safe from Google as well? That, sir, is going to be a hard day.

  8. yay! someone understood my reference! i was thinking it was maybe too esoteric & weird… 🙂