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
Google: A Life Changing Search Engine
Friday, December 19, 2014
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
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.
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
Information from:
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.
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 12th 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.
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