The Googlization of Everything

The other day I saw the last half of a televised lecture from Dr. Siva Vaidhyanathan, author of The Googlization of Everything (And Why We Should Worry). [Here is his blog] It really made me think... is it true that we unquestioningly depend on the World Wide Web to learn about... the world? Granted, the growing availability of the Internet is making the world a much smaller place, but is it changing how we experience the world? Should we rely on Google, a 12-year-old company, for all of our shopping and learning needs? Dr. Vaidhyanathan made the point that people do not question the decisions that the search engine of Google makes, more recently that most users do not click past the first page. That hit me. Ever since Google tailored it searches to only allow the "best" and "most relevant" to make it to the top of the list, we have placed more trust than ever before in the choice Google makes for us. Google is unquestionably a valuable resource, don't get me wrong, but the company's potential ability to monopolize the Internet is a scary thought. Where will the future lead for Google? I think I may have to read Dr. Vaidhyanathan's book to answer that one for ya.