Purchase Options

Buying the Book

You can order your own copy of The Google Boys on Amazon for under $15.00

http://www.amazon.com/Biography-Google-Boys-Larry-Page/dp/B000JBXHOQ

More on the Authors

Links to Brin and Page's Personal Pages/Wikipedias

Sergey Brin
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Brin
Personal Page: https://plus.google.com/+SergeyBrin/posts

Larry Page
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Page
Personal Page: https://plus.google.com/+LarryPage/posts

What Others Are Saying

Reviews of The Google Boys

http://www.agatepublishing.com/book/?GCOI=93284100156480: This review shows how the book is a wonderful compilation of quotes from the founders of Google. It praises the work for showing in-depth how Google is a template for businesses around the world.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-google-boys-george-beahm/1118940255?ean=9781932841886: These reviews from credible editors shows how this book is hard to put down once you start reading, and extremely positive in terms of how the book is inspirational.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0784671/: The novel was also transformed into a move production, which did not receive many good reviews. Out of 38 viewers on IMDb, the movie was give a 4.3/10 stars.

Getting Things Done with Quality

All About Efficiency

        Taking the idea of collaboration a step further, the concept of efficiency has emerged as one of the leading descriptors for today’s network society. Whether it is at a corporate of individual level, technology being made widespread has used algorithms and automated processes to replace the strenuous and self-reliant work of individuals, and shift towards a society based on a dependence of the Internet and others expertise for answers. Consequentially, critics of technology have asserted that this new era has destroyed the foundation of interpersonal communication and made individuals less capable of figuring things out on their own. In contrast, proponents of technology have explained that life is made easier, and in the meantime we are able to be more productive.

         In their novel, Brin and Page express how Google is successful because it enacts on the principle that society is looking for: simplicity. Google has not only cut down the time users need to take in order to find information, but they have also created a whole branch for online books, automated cars and also smartphones that extend the limits of what humans can do from their pockets. Like Leffingwell explained in his article on reengineering, a reorganization of principles should lead a company to understand “how to best open an envelope” (Head, 2003). Looking at this message from a larger scale, Leffingwell attempted at making things easier for a company in order to be more productive and capitalize on its strengths more frequently. By cutting down the time it takes the company to overcome obstacles and work out tedious tasks, Google has allowed itself to work at taking the most popular links on the Internet and ranking them in order of significance. As declared in the article entitled “Space of Flows”, “The information/global economy is organized around command” (Castells, 2012). In other words, the only way for Google to be successful is for them to provide its users with what they want, when they want it, as well as where. Understanding that knowledge equals power, Google has made sure they give individuals rapid access to the most valuable links on the Internet taking in to consideration convenience and quality.

       To become more efficient internally as a company, Google has prided itself on creating a family like community from the diverse employee base that its hiring officers strive to attain. In itself, Google views having a varied set of employees as being efficient because new ideas and viewpoints are constantly in circulation. Furthermore, in various speeches delivered at University graduations and keynote locations around the world, Page explains how Google tries to limit the work that any one department has to do on its own by getting everyone to work together and take responsibility. In addition, Google is efficient because Brin and Page are driven to succeed. Everyone in the company, from the top down, is told to reach tasks that have high return and reward.  Keeping in mind the service they provide, Google is never satisfied with their current standing and always focused on being a world leader in allowing its user to access information they insist on.

Castells, Manuel. "The Space of Flows." Blackwell Publishers 2 (2000): 409. Web. 17 Dec. 2014.

Head, Simon. "The RIse of the Reengineers." The New Ruthless Economy (2005): 8. Print.

Collaboration

The Theme of Communication

Throughout the course of this semester, LIS 201 has inherently displayed the theme of an information society based on collaboration and constant communication. Although advances in technology have certainly led to a digital divide, and have unfortunately left less privileged and unfortunate nations behind, automation has allowed for individuals across the world to be in consistent connection. This idea was most certainly expressed in the context of The Google Boys as well, as Bring and Page highlighted that allowing users to access whatever information they want at the click of a button was one of the foremost goals. As a result, the two founders and functioning operators of Google showed in their story of success their focus on empowering the individual by giving them what they want.

From the beginning, Page has used to term “reference librarian” to describe Google as a host of endless information that is also categorized and presented in the order of which a user is most likely looking for. Google has successfully taken advantage of search engine optimization and the feedback provided by cooperating with civilians to get a better idea of what users are interested in and attracted to when carrying out their quest for information. Specifically, like the introduction of technology in to the classroom, Google has enabled the individual to learn at their own pace, and follow up on topics they want to gain more exposure to. As written in “No Child Left Untableted”, technology’s role is “to facilitate learning” (Rotella, 2013). Brin and Page show in their book that their customer service department is instilled with the message that they must guarantee its users at all times, Google pledge’s to provide valid and relevant information.

Furthermore, in working with the users of its service, Google has been able to form partnerships and join forces with other companies in order to mutually benefit. They have particularly followed up on the idea of advertising from the print culture era. For proof, Google uses something they call “co-branding” to become the back end search engine at other sites. In similar terms, as people are advised to use Google when on other websites, they return the favor by allowing companies to place ads in the corners of their search engine. As a result, Google uses dataveillance to keep track of what people search for and click, and contact advertising departments of different companies to suggest placing ads on computer screens in certain geographic regions in return for linking their search engine to information on these businesses web pages. This whole idea undoubtedly signifies the theme of collaboration and working together to attain a common goal of being as profitable and well received as possible.

Rotella, Carlo. "No Child Left Untableted." New York Times 12 Sept. 2013: 1-12. The New York Times. Web. 18 Dec. 2014.

The Google Boys: Sergey Brin and Larry Page In Their Own Words

Author's Background 

          Today, when people think of Google the first thing that comes to mind is a seemingly flawless automated search engine system. The way this innovation came to dominate the Internet and in fact everyday society is deeply rooted from two individuals with truly amazing stories. This book,
written by the founders and now executives of Google, Large Page and Sergey Brin, takes the reader through the way they began the company and have continued to lead its team members on a path of success. Before diving in to the context of their novel, it is first important to understand the background on the two awe-inspiring pioneers of the Google project.

            Born in Russia in the early 1970’s, Brin and his family were forced to emigrate to the U.S. in order to escape Jewish persecution. Coming from a family with a background in mathematics, Brin became deeply interested in computer science and mechanization, which he continued primarily at the University of Maryland and then at Stanford University. Brin is now 41 years of age, and is one of the most well known billionaires around the world, estimated to be worth over $40 billion. Already, Brin has been acclaimed as a top 100 innovator of the world and has been inducted into the National Academy of Engineering.

         In comparison, Larry Page was born in East Lansing, Michigan in 1973 to his parents and professors of computer science and programming at Michigan State University. Page’s childhood home was surrounded by magazines and articles written about the potential opportunities made possible by computers. Page went on as an honors student at the University of Michigan, where he fulfilled his life long dream of studying sustainable technology, and was a key member of the solar car team. Today, Page is widely recognized as the #9 most powerful person in the world and 12^th richest in America.  Logistically, Page handles the daily operations of the company, while Brin’s role is more centered on organizing and managing the company’s special projects.

         Larry Page and Sergey Brin first met at Stanford in 1995 as Page was considering the University to continue his studies. After giving him a tour, Brin immediately knew that the two highly intelligent males had a connection, and could provide the world with something they had never seen before. Luckily enough for them, the Internet and World Wide Web were finally being recognized as having high value in everyday society at the times of these individuals introduction to each other. Page expressed his goal of devising a method to determine how many Web pages are linked to any given page online as at this time such a way to search the Internet was not in place. As a result, putting their talents together, Page and Brin began collaborating to start a search engine, and first came out with BackRub in 1996. Ultimately they registered the name “Google” in 1997, and ever since then have not turned back. In just 5 short years, Brin and Page took this company from having just 6 employees functioning out of a garage, to over 10,000 workers and revenues well upward of $10 billion. Google continues to take on unheard of challenges, yet maintain its credibility and trustworthiness as a reliable search engine.

Information from:

"Making the World's Information Accessible." American Academy of Achievement. N.p., 21 Jan. 2011. Web. 19 Dec. 2014.