Google it

With the exception of Microsoft and its Windows operating system, there is no other technological brand that I use more than Google. There is hardly a day that passes that I don't use some Google product or service. I regularly check my Gmail throughout each day. I use Google search to find information on just about any subject I care to look up. The Google image search also comes in quite handy (see some of the pictures posted below). I share various documents through Google Docs, an incredibly handy feature to use on class projects. I was using Google to search for popular brands to write about before it hit me that I could write about Google itself. Even this blog is written using the Google service Blogspot/Blogger.

I have Google applications for my mobile phone, too. In fact, anything I might do on a regular desktop or laptop computer, I can probably do it on my phone. One prominent service that I use often is the maps feature on my iPhone which is powered by Google Maps. Another application involves voice-based search; instead of typing in a search query, I can just speak into the microphone what I want to look for, and Google's voice recognition software will translate what I say into a search query.

The fact that everything is free is just the icing on the cake. Whenever I think of Google, two words come to mind--"free" and "useful." My only potential concern with Google involves the amount of information that Google gathers about me as an individual. While I'm enjoying everything Google has to offer, the same can be said about Google enjoying everything I have to offer. Still, it's become a trade-off I'm willing to accept.

Even with all of the information that Google gathers (whether I give it voluntarily or involuntarily), the Google brand still makes me feel "safe." Maybe it's the whole "Do no evil" catch phrase that Google supposedly adheres to, or maybe it's because Google's products are just so pragmatic and useful--either way, the Google suite of products and services will likely continue to have a prominent use in my life.