Beware of Google?
Earlier today, I read an interesting blog post by Dion Moult entitled “Beware of Google.” Skeptical, I gave it a full read, and have been giving it some thought. This whole idea comes somewhat counter to my normal thinking, since I’ve been drinking the Google Kool-Aid for years now. But I do think he makes a strong point in that Google has built itself a somewhat monopolistic empire (though Google disagrees). In effect, in time, he argues, that just about every useful web application will be using Google’s APIs and toolkits. He writes:
It doesn’t matter if it’s open-sourced, if you have to use Google Toolkit to make anything decent, that’s “Google is here to define what can be done” for you.
Given the exhaustive list of services Google provides, I’d say this is actually a rather realistic path we’re trudging down. However, I feel like there is one force for freedom that will swoop in and save the day (and no, it’s not Richard Stallman). It’s open standards for data. If open formats exist and are used to the letter and the ability to export and import from Google services are provided, then things will ultimately find a balance. Sure, billions of people will still flock to their amazing services (myself included), but having that freedom to have your own data with you gives you more than just peace of mind. It gives you the ability, on a whim, to pick up and move to another service in a snap. Of course, I’m also aware that standards are often not followed to the letter. Just look at proprietary additions to HTML and CSS by different browsers and what Microsoft has been doing with ODF.
In any case, back to the ideal world where standards are followed. As an example, let’s say Google Calendar starts doing some freaky tracking of where you go and you don’t like it (clearly I’m starved for creativity). Even now, you can go in, export your calendars, and dump them into, say, Yahoo. Or perhaps iCal on your Mac, or some other Desktop application. The point is, that you are not one bit tied to Google’s services, except to the extent that you make yourself tied to them (with the exception of email, where addresses are particularly annoying to change).
And then you may say, “well what if no alternatives exist?” And I say, alternatives will exist. Always. Perhaps they’ll be a bit slow-coming. Perhaps they won’t be as shiny. But sure as hell they’ll exist. Because there will always be people out there, like Dion 
, that are watching the current web Giant(s) with a watchful eye. And that’s where the “power of community” (cliche, right?) comes into play. Google may have thousands (is it thousands?) of developers, but any given project, seen as an important enough need, can garner many, many talented developers to contribute to the cause.
So while it’s good to keep an eye out, I won’t be stressing too much about the future of the web. I’ll just keep my data safe, accessible, and ready to move on a moment’s notice.
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