Searching for Google's heart
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
I've been reading John Battelle's book on Google - The Search. As you would expect from such an experienced writer on technological issues (and the personalities of Silicon Valley) the book is well written and an easy read.
More than anything it brings home both the speed of Google's growth and the short history of the Internet as an economic space. In 1994 I was browsing the web using Mosaic, dialling in from my home in Singapore, and feeling I could more or less visit all the sites on the web in an evening. Sortly afterwards, I was raving about AltaVista to my work colleagues.
I remember learning about Google through some Linux site and trying it out. I don't think I've used another search engine since. Battelle's book explains why.
One of the first executives to join Brin and Page at Google was Omid Kordestani. You can hear him in conversation with John Battelle in this podcast from ITC, recorded at this year's Web 2.0 conference.
More than anything it brings home both the speed of Google's growth and the short history of the Internet as an economic space. In 1994 I was browsing the web using Mosaic, dialling in from my home in Singapore, and feeling I could more or less visit all the sites on the web in an evening. Sortly afterwards, I was raving about AltaVista to my work colleagues.
I remember learning about Google through some Linux site and trying it out. I don't think I've used another search engine since. Battelle's book explains why.
One of the first executives to join Brin and Page at Google was Omid Kordestani. You can hear him in conversation with John Battelle in this podcast from ITC, recorded at this year's Web 2.0 conference.
