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History is littered with organisations trying to control information. When Guttenberg "invented" the printing press, and rolled out the first mass produced document (the bible I believe), everybody including THE top organisation of the time (the catholic church) was happy. That view soon changed when other people had other ideas as to what a printing press could be used for, as a consequence the church tried to license ownership of presses. Roll on time a bit and you get Henry VIII instigating the first copywrite laws in order to stamp out catholic propaganda in favour of the protestant alternative (remember at the time England was the only European country in conflict with the bishop of Rome). Yep believe it or not the first copywrite laws wernt about protecting the authors ownership of his art, they where about promoting the philosophy and ideology of a particular Monarch. The "information control" game has not changed, however the tools have become more sophisticated and IMO dangerous, because its easier to manipulate people in less intrusive ways, the "science of subtlety" is better understood, and well practiced in the forms of advertising and shop loyalty cards. In the old days if you wanted a revolution you would publish a document commenting on the (lack of) size of a kings whatsits, or the fact that his uneducated teenaged wife said something like "let them eat cake" when told her people where starving. I would hope that most people would be able to see through the manipulation processes in a search engine and choose to use the most representative option (one that provides what is asked for) rather than the most manipulative (one that only gives you what "it" thinks you should get), but Im not sure (like that ill fated queen of France) that people understand the issues. A new Google ? The problem is that once someone has got control, its very difficult to redress the balance, if someone gets hold of google and uses it for their own purposes, will people flock to "jo bloggs new unknown" search engine because its more representative, or will they continue to click that comfortable link at the top of their browser ? Ultimately the test of a new search engine will be if it can survive, to survive it needs cash and that requires advertising which also requires user participation which requires advertising which requires money and so on and so on. How would someone like Microsoft go about dismantling Google ? Someone told me that if you place a live frog in boiling water it will jump out, but if you place it in cold water and bring it to the boil slowly it will quite happly sit there being boiled alive. Letting Microsoft control Google would also be like being boiled alive slowly, question is would we get out in time ? My view .... Just dont let MS get Google. Of course if the rumours are true about a floatation of Google this will play right into Microsoft's Hands, they will inevitably chuck a wadge of cash at it (we already know they have $10bn ear marked) and the majority of share holders in for a quick buck will be very happy to exchange shares for cash. Tom. Information in this message is confidential and may be legally privileged. It is the intended solely for the person ( or persons) to whom it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender, and please delete the message from your system immediately. The views in this message are personal, they are not necessarily those of Torbay Council. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG Mail majordomo@xxxxxxxxxxxx with "unsubscribe list" in the message body to unsubscribe.