Google - the new SkyNet?

I am a huge science fiction fan and one of my all time favourite movies is "Terminator" with Arnold Schwarznagger and the ever-so-cute Michael Biehn. For those that haven't seen the movie, it revolves around the premise that the human race is nearly destroyed when a computer system is given control of the global defence satellite systems, which then comes alive and decides that humans are a virus. SkyNet - the "living" computer system, sends Arnie back in time to kill the mother of the Resistance leader so as to stop the Resistance from defeating SkyNet in the future.

A brilliant movie with great special effects and an interesting theme.

The reason I mention this movie is because deep down I have this growing nagging thought.

A few years back, two university students got together to set up a new search engine, with the aim of making the internet's content easily accessible. Nobody at the time took them seriously, considering the juggernaut search engines like Yahoo and Altavista, were already there. Yet today, Google is the world's most popular online search engine.

Their "Do No Evil" motto, their spartan search interface and their continual launching of new free internet services, has made Google the darling of the public. Google has become synonymous with search - one Google's the net, so to speak.

Today, Google is not only a search engine. It has side products including the famous Gmail email service that sent major shockwaves worldwide with its initial 1 gig of free space [and now over 2.6 gig and increasing], launched Google Talk to compete with MSN Messenger, AOL and the like; Google Maps and Google Earth which gives everyone access to aerial photos of practically anywhere in the world, and more. Google is further "testing" free internet access [wifi] in San Francisco, buying unused internet bandwidth across the USA, signed agreements with major libraries in the USA to put online thousands of books, and partnered [officially and unofficially] with software giants Sun Microsystems and internet browser maker Mozilla who make the popular Firefox.

Their current testing is for the launch of Google Base, which from the "leaked" news reports, appears to be similar to what eBay is offering. They are also testing a similar program to Paypal, and are likely to also launch their own version of Microsoft's Office program via the open source software Open Office [via Sun].

I look at what Google has done so far and what they are branching out into, and wonder where exactly Google is heading. Each new product or service launch by Google, although standalone, are slowly becoming integrated. Further, their current offerings are causing juggernauts like Microsoft to have many a sleepless nights as they see this upstart creeping slowly but surely into their turf.

Google is also branching out into other areas. The Massachussets Institute of Technology in conjunction with several other companies including Google, are testing $100 [yes, one hundred] laptops with the aim of having every child in the world possessing one, preloaded with the linux system and the Firefox browser.

And thus for the nagging thoughts.

Are we going to wake up one day, turn our computers on, and suddenly realise that Google is everywhere? A Google/Firefox browser with a Google homepage to search from, getting our news from Google News, chatting to our friends via Google Talk, shopping for the best deals via Google's Froogle, connecting to the internet via Google's internet service, paying for our online purchases via Google's paypal, making phone calls via Google Talk's VoIP, and using Google's Office suite to create our documents - all for free?

Will we realise one day that Google is like our electricity - a necessity for everyone?

In the movie "Terminator", SkyNet came alive and tried to destroy humanity. In our not so distant future, Google maybe the new SkyNet but with a difference.

We shall see.

James