The World of Googlers

Let’s have a coffee table chit chat here. The topic on the plate is Google. Being in Chennai, I don’t know the place much and so I asked my friend as to where the nearest place is where I can get good coffee? He said “wait, let me Google it.” Then later on while I was out on an assignment, there were certain things in the news story which I did not understand, so I asked someone, they replied with a “don’t ask me just Google it.” Later on a few days after I was told this random word during a long lecture from someone, and upon asking me a question they said “Google it, and tell me what it is right now.” The world has turned into a world of the Googlers. Even when I turn on my computer and I want to search something I cannot deny, I go straight to Google. Years before I would be on ask.com, or yahoo.com. But mainly ask.com would answer most of my questions. Then if I had anything which I had to research for project work or any assignments in school, of course my answer was the good old Google.

How many stars are there in the universe? Who lived the longest in the history of the world and till what age? How many hairs are there on a human head? A gazillion questions run on and where to find all the answers? The answer is GOOGLE. You know how you thank God for the food on your table every day. Just similarly in the same way you should thank God for two of the most brilliant men on earth Larry Page, and Sergey Brin, the founders of Google. Why do you ask? You should know it without a seconds thought. I’ll be pointing out the obvious here when I make this statement however Google over the years has become of course the top search engine in the world, and especially in India so much so that if anyone needs anything just like you say in the comics Batman or Superman to the rescue, its Google to the rescue at all times. Today’s youth’s guiding light seems to be Google as it happens to be one of the fastest and easiest ways to search for anything and everything on the web. So the question at hand is why Google? Is it the double O’s or the placement of colors in the font?

Have you ever considered to stop and ask what the exact meaning of the word Google is? Some know, some haven’t actually cared enough to look into the matter. So here’s a little bit of an FYI outside of the everyday lectures. Google got its name from the word “googol” which is a mathematical term for the number 1 which is followed by a 100 zeros. It goes something like this 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000…get the idea? In simple words 10 raised to the hundredth power. So this name was originally coined by a man named Milton Sirotta, who happens to be the nephew of an American mathematician Edward Kasner. The term was popularized in the book “Mathematics and the Imagination.” So now why derive such a name from a mathematical term such as “googol.” Do you see the high volume of information which you are presented with just when you type in the word “stars,” or “ocean?” It’s an overwhelming amount of millions of sites which Google links you up with isn’t it? The idea which Google is trying to convey is their mission which is basically to organize the high volume of information which is made available to us on the internet.
When it comes to Google its fun Catull typeface logo which has these wonderful colors which if you spot at a random at some place, Google might be popping up in your head unknowingly. So what’s with the colorful font which is unlike that of Yahoo’s dark purple? Well according to designer Ruth Kedar, there were many colors which was looked over however, Google came up with the primary colors red, yellow and blue in the end and instead of placing the color pattern in order the secondary color of green was placed on the L which was to emphasis the idea that Google does not follow the usual rules. Now what rules are these? You might as well Google it to find out.
When you pull up the website first thing you see are those colorful letters and each day there is an interesting fact which is drawn amongst the letters and as you browse your mouse over the letters, some animation comes about or a fact is shown about the present day. Google has a simple way of presenting itself with just a search box and the search engines name on top, which is something that is attractive to the mind and pleasing for the viewers eyes. Google is just like any other search engine, only in the minds of the youngsters it isn’t. Because if it just so happens that they want to know when the next movies playing at the nearest theatre they don’t go to yahoo.com or ask.com, they go Google it. It has become a trend to say “just Google it.” With the youngsters of today’s time Google has become like the converse shoes which they sport, or the latest Samsung Galaxy which they spent their money on. Only Google is free! Google as we know it in our time and day is the Armani of search engines, and the answer to why Google is simple. It’s just fashion, it’s what is hot in today’s society and what will continue being hot for time to come. Google is just simplicity presented at its best.

Denisha Sahadevan