Google wrapped up its third annual I/O conference last week in San Francisco. There is still a tremendous amount of community excitement around Google and its products as the event had sold out two-and-a-half months earlier.
I think it's fair to say that Google TV and its latest Android 2.2 operating system seemed to get the most fanfare. In other words, there was not a great deal of mention of search innovation, Google's foundation, at the event. This of course is interesting as it gives us much more insight into the future of Google.
For example, take a look at the list of some of Google's major products:
- Search (including voice, and image search/Google Goggles)
- Google Chrome Browser
- Google Maps/Google Earth
- Google Docs/Google Apps
- Google Talk
- Google Buzz
- Google Analytics
- Google App Engine
- Android
- Google TV
- Gmail
- YouTube
- Google Translate
- Google Public DNS
- Fiber/Broadband
And of course there are several more, including those in embryonic stage at www.googlelabs.com.
So it seems that Google is competing in just about every space these days (and in the process creating a lot of competitors), causing one to wonder what their long-term strategy is. Clearly they are trying to have a major presence in the entire application stack of the Web (and also the fiber and broadband focus is interesting in this respect). And so just why is that?
Are they really just trying to make all of our lives better through technology as they often state?
Are they truly the self-appointed protectors of the Web, preventing any one person or company from owning the most important platform of our generation (seemingly the mantra in their battle versus the iPhone and iPad)?
Is there some kind of secret, world-dominating long-term strategy discussed in Google's basement with candles and robe-adorned chiefs Larry, Eric, and Sergey as the high priests, executing a pact sworn to in blood?
Is it just the usual Wall Street pressure of growing 20% per year requiring them to go after every related market they can get their hands on?
Or is it just a couple of multi-billionaire technophiles having some fun?
Whatever the case may be, the company has extended themselves way beyond search, and as the next couple of years unfold, we will learn more and more as to why if they can keep it all held together. They are definitely at a crossroads in terms of a corporate identity, so it ought to be an interesting story to follow.
One area that is of particular interest to StrikeIron and is quite exciting is the Google App Engine, a platform for developing and hosting scalable Web applications. In Google's version of the Cloud, application deployment considerations such as server redundancy, load-balancing, data center synchronization, and virtualization are all abstracted (and therefore handled) by the App Engine. While there are some obvious performance-related questions for heavy duty systems in the short-term (and likely solved in the long-term) as well as some currently limited capabilities (it doesn't support database joins for example), this will likely enable a broad level of application development to occur outside the firewall and out on the Cloud as time marches on.
This will in turn make it incredibly simple to make use of the various Web Services APIs for different functions that a company such as StrikeIron provides, including address, telephone, and email verification, sending SMS messages, calculating tax and foreign currency rates, and many more, as we abstract all of the details of these processes and data sources also. Therefore a developer doesn't have to worry about these details, especially ongoing data management and data updating. A single line of Python or Java code within the App Engine and the necessary (and most recent) external data is retrieved with all updates and daily data maintenance performed by StrikeIron and its operations team. This kind of expanded, abstracted functionality is what the promise of the Cloud is all about.
This expansion of capabilities of course speeds innovation and application development, and does so while significantly reducing complexity and cost and all while increasing application usefulness. This is a recipe for some exciting things to come, for Google, for StrikeIron, and for everyone else. Go Google go!
I think it's fair to say that Google TV and its latest Android 2.2 operating system seemed to get the most fanfare. In other words, there was not a great deal of mention of search innovation, Google's foundation, at the event. This of course is interesting as it gives us much more insight into the future of Google.
For example, take a look at the list of some of Google's major products:
- Search (including voice, and image search/Google Goggles)
- Google Chrome Browser
- Google Maps/Google Earth
- Google Docs/Google Apps
- Google Talk
- Google Buzz
- Google Analytics
- Google App Engine
- Android
- Google TV
- Gmail
- YouTube
- Google Translate
- Google Public DNS
- Fiber/Broadband
And of course there are several more, including those in embryonic stage at www.googlelabs.com.
So it seems that Google is competing in just about every space these days (and in the process creating a lot of competitors), causing one to wonder what their long-term strategy is. Clearly they are trying to have a major presence in the entire application stack of the Web (and also the fiber and broadband focus is interesting in this respect). And so just why is that?
Are they really just trying to make all of our lives better through technology as they often state?
Are they truly the self-appointed protectors of the Web, preventing any one person or company from owning the most important platform of our generation (seemingly the mantra in their battle versus the iPhone and iPad)?
Is there some kind of secret, world-dominating long-term strategy discussed in Google's basement with candles and robe-adorned chiefs Larry, Eric, and Sergey as the high priests, executing a pact sworn to in blood?
Is it just the usual Wall Street pressure of growing 20% per year requiring them to go after every related market they can get their hands on?
Or is it just a couple of multi-billionaire technophiles having some fun?
Whatever the case may be, the company has extended themselves way beyond search, and as the next couple of years unfold, we will learn more and more as to why if they can keep it all held together. They are definitely at a crossroads in terms of a corporate identity, so it ought to be an interesting story to follow.
One area that is of particular interest to StrikeIron and is quite exciting is the Google App Engine, a platform for developing and hosting scalable Web applications. In Google's version of the Cloud, application deployment considerations such as server redundancy, load-balancing, data center synchronization, and virtualization are all abstracted (and therefore handled) by the App Engine. While there are some obvious performance-related questions for heavy duty systems in the short-term (and likely solved in the long-term) as well as some currently limited capabilities (it doesn't support database joins for example), this will likely enable a broad level of application development to occur outside the firewall and out on the Cloud as time marches on.
This will in turn make it incredibly simple to make use of the various Web Services APIs for different functions that a company such as StrikeIron provides, including address, telephone, and email verification, sending SMS messages, calculating tax and foreign currency rates, and many more, as we abstract all of the details of these processes and data sources also. Therefore a developer doesn't have to worry about these details, especially ongoing data management and data updating. A single line of Python or Java code within the App Engine and the necessary (and most recent) external data is retrieved with all updates and daily data maintenance performed by StrikeIron and its operations team. This kind of expanded, abstracted functionality is what the promise of the Cloud is all about.
This expansion of capabilities of course speeds innovation and application development, and does so while significantly reducing complexity and cost and all while increasing application usefulness. This is a recipe for some exciting things to come, for Google, for StrikeIron, and for everyone else. Go Google go!
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