Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

What happened to Google? For years everyone hated Microsoft either because of jealousy, poor products or bullying tactics. When Google came along, it was a breath of fresh air - clean webpage and simple search functionality, just when every other page was becoming a cluttered "portal".

I'm starting to think that those first 5 or 6 years of Google were the Golden Age of the Internet: it was expanding at pace but it was still exciting and new. Granted, there was an awful lot you couldn't do and some of the design was eye-watering but it still seemed, to me, driven by excitement. It was harder to search out obscure data but rewarding when you found it.

Now there is considerably more business input and a snobbery or elitism (those who know and those who don't); there's capability for more design but just as much glare; practically any search leads you to Wikipedia but rarely do people double-check data; everyone's on a social network so the networks start to reflect life with all its petty bigotries and vile commentary.

And through all that, Google has grown to usurp Microsoft as Emperor. But is it Animal Farm? Have Google, finally reaching a money-making model, given up on doing no evil? With Google Buzz's lack of user-centric thought and the blatant stitching up of writers by Google Books recently, I have to wonder.

This is no longer a benign ruler.