A fascinating article on some of what these guys are up to.
A Search Engine That’s Becoming an Inventor
When Google was a graduate-school project being run from a Silicon Valley garage, its founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, built their own computers out of cheap parts meant for personal computers. They wanted to save money, and they felt that they could design a network of computers that would search the Web more efficiently than those available from traditional manufacturers.
…Even as it spends more than $1.5 billion this year on operations centers and technology, most of the hundreds of thousands of servers it will deploy are being custom-made based on Google’s own eccentric designs. …There are signs that Google is even preparing to create its own custom microchips.
One such program, called MapReduce, is based on ideas discussed in computer science literature for decades, according to Urs Hölzle, Google’s senior vice president for operations. “What surprised us was how useful it turned out to be in our environment,” he said.
MapReduce, he said, “allows Joe Schmo software engineer to process large amounts of data and take advantage of our infrastructure.”
“Nobody builds servers as unreliably as we do,” Mr. Hölzle said in a speech last year at CERN, the Swiss particle physics institute. Google is reducing cost while maintaining performance by shifting the burden of reliability from hardware to software — individual hardware components can fail, but software automatically shifts the local task and the data to other machines.
Gore got a bad deal about that claim he never made. Now, for me, the “Gore said he invented the Internet” is symbolic of the the first of many shameless Bush lies.
I am also sick of hearing this Al Gore thing. His statement has been misintrepreted and used as an easy punchline by way too many people, especially on tech websites. Get over it!
I thought I’d find some brilliant analysis from geeks about a geek topic — down here in Comments. What is this? Too demanding a topic?
The Google premise of utilizing parallel computing can hold promise for individual and corporate users — now that they’ve shown what results they can achieve. It needn’t be limited to big budget military/industrial supercomputer projects.
Anything else like this going on in the homebrew world?
I’m looking forward to the day when Google surpasses M$ as the premier computer co. Even funnier will be bafoon Balmer’s reaction to it.
if spending on research meant anything att ,ibm, hp, sun, would still be ontop and campanies like digital would still be around. for google to stay on top of the curve, i mean if they really want to get rich like those boys over a ms you have to learn to pay the bribe, bulling ppl around… lie, cheat, steal…. those are the real ways to suceed in amercia now… no stupid ol’ research… thats for losers.
The quote attributed to Gore, “I invented the Internet”, while a bit of distortion from the original, really is not that far off the mark.
From Snopes:
Whether Gore’s statement that he “took the initiative in creating the Internet” is justified is a subject of debate. Any statement about the “creation” or “beginning” of the Internet is difficult to evaluate, because the Internet is not a homogenous entity (it’s a collection of computers, networks, protocols, standards, and application programs), nor did it all spring into being at once (the components that comprise the Internet were developed in various places at different times and are continuously being modified, improved, and expanded). Many of the components of today’s Internet came into being well before Gore’s first term in Congress began in 1977.
WHat Gore said was
“During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet.”
The internet was “created” before the time of his service in Congress. Bush may not be the smarteest President we ever had but Gore isn’t the brightest light on the tree either.
Google IS the premier computer company. Where have you been for the last two years?
Where on earth are you getting your information, sagrilarius?
In terms of revenue, Google is not even in the top 100 (IBM is #10 and Microsoft is #48 on the Fortune 500) and it’s only #29 in terms of market capitalization (Microsoft is #7, IBM is #27).
Yes, where IS sagrilarius getting that information? (it’s probably just an unscientific remark about feeling that google is the most promising company currently)
But Frank IBC, you also forgot to cite your source.
Al Gore works full time for Google, has been doing so for 5 years, you should know..
I always took Al Gore’s statement to mean that he cast the deciding vote in founding DARPANET, which is not impossible perhaps, but still is absurd for him to compare with the “Internet”.
sorry for omitting the citations, kororaa –
For the Fortune 500 list, my source is Fortune magazine itself (their 2006 list), for the other, “List of Corporations By Market Capitalization” article in WikiPedia.
Al Gore works full time for Google, has been doing so for 5 years, you should know..
Comment by Charbax — 7/5/2006 @ 8:39 am
They are hiring???
🙂
This is a post about GOOGLE and it only took til comment #2 to bring up BUSH? Zealots.
Back on topic – how long do you think Google avoid the ire of becoming viewed as a big bad company ala Microsoft? A ton of companies are scared sh*tless now that Google will enter their software or service niche and wipe them off the map. Google search, Google Adsense, Google Earth, Google Maps, Google Desktop, Google Video, Google Book Search, Google Finance, buyout of Blogger, Google Picasa, Google Talk, Google Images, Google Froogle, Google Calendar, Google Spreadsheets, Gmail… and of course rumors abound about Google OS.
It’s funny to me how people are totally OK with Google seemingly taking over everything internet related, almost rooting for them to crush Microsoft at their own game in the process. With so many people here demonizing big corporations every other article, how has the “Do No Evil” company escaped their gunsights?
A very very good question Zuke, and one that I struggle with myself.
Googl€ Peon-ism is something otherwise distrusting people seem to struggle with as much as Micro$oft Peon-ism
(btw, there are tons of corperation names that are fun to use currency signs with, even just from the ASCII table)
#17 & #18…. I”ll answer that for you:
1. Google’s products are fun and interesting, and to some extent, very innovative. With the exception of tools for developers, Microsoft’s aren’t.
2. Google’s software is (obviously) internet centered. Many of the apps will work on any computer you sit down upon. In these days where desktops are assaulted by malware all the time, people are comfortable letting an on-line type service (mail, calendar, spreadsheets, word processing) work for them.
3. Some of G’s software just works better than the MS version. It is to MS’s shame that while they own the operating system and desktop apps, I still use google desktop search over the search capabilities built into Windows and Outlook.
I love MS’s programming tools, but on all other fronts, the innovation has not really been there for the last 10 years. Ultimately, they cater to a corporate base that doesn’t want to take chances, or retrain and reinstall. Google stamps a BETA seal on all releases (it seems), and because it is internet based can fix problems as they occur.
MS needs to form a division, that is not beholden in any direct way to the OS or Office group (on the desktop side). For example, this group could put out a replacement for EXPLORER.EXE (the microsoft desktop), as they see fit.
Personally, I’ve always wondered why MS did not come out with what I call the “Grandma” version of the desktop OS. Many of us have tried to get our parents and grandparents using computers, but it seems to overwhelming to them. This Grandma version would use big icons, lock down the desktop, and have SIMPLE interfaces for email, surfing the web, etc. All online stuff would be done in a pure SANDBOX with no possibility of computer infection. There computer guru would be able to add apps and features SLOWLY without compromising the easy to use interface.
Just my thoughts.
Google didn’t invent this. IBM mainframes have been doing this for a long time. You can have a CPU fail on a multi-CPU system and hardly notice. I remember working on a system in 1988/89 and getting a call from an IBM engineer telling me that one of our CPUs had died, and he’d be in soon to fix it. We looked and he was right. None of our apps died and there were no delays caused as a result of this.
Whatever anyone is doing with PCs today, IBM did a long time ago with mainframes.
“how long do you think Google avoid the ire of becoming viewed as a big bad company ala Microsoft?”
Here is how Google can rise to level of a big bad company.
1. Make product activation your #1 priority
2. Charge outragous prices for software that is full of security holes
3. Ignore established standards and make your own. Then get web and software designers to drink your koolaid so that their products will only work with your non standard software
4. Hire a bald, nutjob, who does nothing more then yell and throw furnature
5. Promise a product with all new wonderfull features, then deliver it 2 years late with all the worth while feature taken out (and don’t forget to charge an arm and leg for this product)
6. Embrace DRM
I can go on, but you get the idea.
Lou, good post. You get my vote for that one.
#9, Frank, you are wrong and off the mark. But don’t take my word for it. How about two of the better known pioneers that help create the internet.
By Robert Kahn and Vinton Cerf
Al Gore was the first political leader to recognize the importance of the Internet and to promote and support its development.
No one person or even small group of persons exclusively “invented” the Internet. It is the result of many years of ongoing collaboration among people in government and the university community. But as the two people who designed the basic architecture and the core protocols that make the Internet work, we would like to acknowledge VP Gore’s contributions as a Congressman, Senator and as Vice President. No other elected official, to our knowledge, has made a greater contribution over a longer period of time.
Last year the Vice President made a straightforward statement on his role. He said: “During my service in the United States Congress I took the initiative in creating the Internet.” We don’t think, as some people have argued, that Gore intended to claim he “invented” the Internet. Moreover, there is no question in our minds that while serving as Senator, Gore’s initiatives had a significant and beneficial effect on the still-evolving Internet. The fact of the matter is that Gore was talking about and promoting the Internet long before most people were listening. We feel it is timely to offer our perspective.
http://tinyurl.com/28h23
Hey, read the whole article, it isn’t too long. You might learn something for a change.
Mr. H. Fusion –
Since your reading comprehension doesn’t seem to be the greatest, I am repeating my earlier post, and I am typing really really s-l-o-w t-o m-a-k-e i-t e-a-s-i-e-r f-o-r y-o-u t-o r-e-a-d.
From Snopes:
Whether Gore’s statement that he “took the initiative in creating the Internet” is justified is a subject of debate. Any statement about the “creation” or “beginning” of the Internet is difficult to evaluate, because the Internet is not a homogenous entity (it’s a collection of computers, networks, protocols, standards, and application programs), nor did it all spring into being at once (the components that comprise the Internet were developed in various places at different times and are continuously being modified, improved, and expanded). Many of the components of today’s Internet came into being well before Gore’s first term in Congress began in 1977.
Oh, for crying out loud, people!
DARPAnet was up and running. The military decided to can it. Gore was a key figure (if not the primary) involved in crafting the legislation to convert it into what we know as the Internet. Period.
Darpanet and the Internet are terms for the whole shebang of programs, protocols, systems, etc. One was military, the other private, but both were/are functionally the same thing.
In a semantic sense, Gore was instrumental in “creating” the Internet out of Darpanet in that the Internet didn’t exist prior to his work. It was Darpanet. Afterwards, the Internet existed. A better way of putting it would have been to use the word “transform,” but it isn’t incorrect, lexiconographically (when was the last time you got a chance to use that word?), to use the word “create.”
This is all my fault. I should have known better than to use an ironic reference in a title that is has nothing directly to do with the article. John keeps getting on me about my titles. PLEASE, get back on topic which is infinitely more important!
#19 Lou & #21 gquaglia – Great responses. I especially love that Grandma version of Windows idea! I can think of a few users that I “support” that would be ideal candidates and would improve their computing experience.
Do you think Google, once it achieves total market domination like Microsoft, will turn into the same kind of bloated model of stagnant innovation? I do, but think the ride to that point should be interesting. Hmmm… the more I reflect on it, the more I notice many of Google’s most popular products takes ideas other companies innovated and re-does them with a friendlier snazzier GUI…
Google Earth = Microsoft Terraserver.
Google Search = AltaVista.
Gmail = Hotmail or Yahoo Mail.
Google Picasa = Photoshop.
etc.
#21, gq, I agree with Zuke. The idea of a “Grandma” version of Windows is an excellent idea. And I think that might have been what M$ tried to do with XP Home. But then they figured the pictures of the grandkids needed viewing and altering, and they want to send more then email, and they want… Before you know it, M$ has created another bloated monster that 90% of their users don’t need.
Linux needs a small OS that will be aimed at this group of users. I might try to add very strong spam filtering. Only because I believe this group to be the 0.01% that respond to spam. Other then that, a very simple interface, no registry, easy organization for storing files, etc.
Google, are you paying attention?
Dave, I’m a little disappointed you got us back on track here, but damn, lexicographically , how can you ignore someone using a word like that. I had to look it up.