There's a good
speculative piece over at Business 2.0 that lays out four distinct visions regarding the future of Google and how each may affect not only the technology business, but society as a whole.
But first, a bitter complaint. The author of the piece consults a slew of top "experts" -- "scientists, consultants, former Google employees, and tech visionaries" -- on Google's future, yet overlooks my
quickie blog knockoff in-depth brainstorming about the search giant's larger impact on our economy from nearly three months ago.
Further, my credentials as a futurist are impeccable, having correctly predicted the winner of the last four (OK, three of the last four) Super Bowls. And that's counting the point spreads. Esther Dyson, can you say the same?
On to the article. Here are the four basic scenarios:
Scenario 1 (Circa 2025): Google Is The Media
Google TV, Google Mobile and the rise of e-paper create the perfect storm.
Scenario 2 (Circa 2015): Google is the Internet
Free wi-fi, a faster version of the Web, the Gbrowser, and the cube transform the technology landscape and our language.
Scenario 3 (Circa 2020): Google is Dead
The once-mighty search engine falls prey to privacy intrusion, optimizers and Microsoft.
Scenario 4 (Circa 2105): Google is God
Human consciousness gets stored, upgraded and networked.
Finally, not that anyone asked, here's
my prediction: Steelers by 12.
Comment and Contribute
