Web 2.0: Google- The Way of the Future

As far as I am concerned, Google is well positioned to dominate the internet.

I was introduced to GoogleDocs over a year ago. For some reason my new computer did not come with a usable word processing program and I desperately needed one. A friend showed me GoogleDocs, and I was amazed. Now I can store any document I want to the Google server, access it from any computer with an internet connection, and I don't worry about losing it if my hard-drive gets fried. When I teach the Web 2.0 class at the CPL, I try to take a minute to show people GoogleDocs- for people who work on the same document at work and at home, it makes much more sense than moving things around on flash-drives all the time.

I checked out the "labs" and I am very intrigued by Aardvark. Aardvark is a service where you can ask any question you want, and a real live person will get back to you within minutes. I tried it out by asking a pop music question - I had to open the chat window in my Gmail to converse with the person who worked on my question, and I got my answer in about 30 seconds. My first reaction was "Holy &*@! this is going to put all reference librarians out of work!" But when I calmed down I realized that Aardvark is to AAQ what Wikipedia is to World Book. It's fast and easy to use, but you wonder about the veracity of the information, I also found the "chatting" in my IM was confusing- but I'm sure with practice I'll become more adept. One must admit it is an amazing service! Maybe I'll mention it in the next 2.0 class I teach!