Siva Vaidhyanathan, professor of media studies at the University of Virginia, discusses his new book, The Googlization of Everything: (And Why We Should Worry). Vaidhyanathan talks about why he thinks many people have “blind faith” in Google, why we should worry about it, and why he doesn’t think it’s likely that a genuine Google competitor will emerge. He also discusses potential roles of government, calling search neutrality a “nonstarter,” but proposing the idea of a commission to monitor online search. He also talks about a “Human Knowledge Project,” an idea for a global digital library, and why a potential monopoly on information by such a project doesn’t worry him the way that Google does.
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Related Links
- “The Googlization of Everything: How one company is disrupting commerce, culture, and community,” Vaidhyanathan’s blog about the book
- The Googlization of Everything, Chapter 1
- “Google’s Gadfly,” Inside Higher Ed
- “Google Violates its Don’t Be Evil Motto,” debate over whether Google violates its motto
Jerry Brito