Google Gets It



I entered adulthood at the fringes of the Computer Age. I was 18 when I sat - anxiously - in front of a computer for the first time as a high school senior. Even throughout college, Smith-Corona and "whiteout" were more familiar to me than "backspace" and something called Microsoft Windows 1.0. During the late 80's and early 90's, my computer use was relegated to nothing more than word processing. Pretty slick, I thought.

 

Fast forward twenty years and we have made it through the introduction of the world wide web, online shopping, MySpace (adults skipped that one), to pods, pads and push notifications. Five months ago I did something I thought impossible only a year ago - I bought an iPad. "Boy am I going to be more efficient," I naively assumed. That didn't happen, but I sure like how fast I can link, connect, friend, tweet, make comments and like people, places and things. Nothing but a toy, but a purchase that has had no buyer's remorse.

 

By nature, I am a person who comes to change slowly, begrudgingly. I still remember when straight-legged jeans became popular in 1980. I clung desperately to my bell bottoms while all around me I saw denim hugging ankles. Cd's - they are nothing but mini-records! Keep buying cassettes, Eric. That's the pattern, change only until everyone around me is about a style and a half ahead of me. And the list goes infinitely on . . .

 

Slow to change has even been the habit in my personal computer use. Google - what the heck is that? AltaVista works just fine for me, thank you. And what's a "google" anyway, can't I just AskJeeves? Of course, we all know how the story has unfolded - every other search engine ever created in the last 15 years has been made utterly irrelevant. So be it - Google is such a superior product that it is now also a verb. Have you ever heard someone say, "why don't you just Netscape it?" Neither have I.

 

So, like most of you, I use Google every single day. I don't understand how it does what it does or finds what it finds, I'm just glad it is what it is. With all due respect to Facebook, which has 800 million active users and growing, it's Google that makes the world go round.

 

After all, Google knows how to take care of us. Like any wise employer, Google has recognized that its users' happiness (ours) is absolutely essential to the overall health of the company. Without us, Google is nothing. So, with that knowledge in mind, Google has taken "user-friendly" to previously unknown heights - so much so that being liked by its users is undoubtedly embedded within its corporate mission statement.

 

I could list many ways Google appreciates its "customers" and thanks them for their loyalty, but I am going to highlight only one - one that does not directly put one extra dime into its coffers - the Google Doodle.

 

The Google Doodle has become the new Pop Art (goodbye, Warhol's Campbell's soup cans). Many days of the year you can open the Google webpage and smile. Behind your smile may be thoughts of distant places, a childhood memory, a mini-history lesson, even a thick slice of nostalgia. All before you ever type a word. As far as I can tell, the Google Doodle's only purpose is our happiness.  Sure, indirectly it creates even more user loyalty - but what's wrong with that when the loyalty is earned?

 

So why all the love for Google, you might be asking yourself - get a room, Bergman. Google makes me smile, that's all. And, I wanted to share a few of my favorite Doodles with you - feel free to click on any and all bold, red text to enjoy mine and maybe explore some of your own.

 

1. The Star Trek Doodle - Dork alert - there is not a Star Trek episode or movie I haven't seen. This doodle was a home run.

 

2. The First Drive-In Movie - Like the Star Trek doodle, this one is a short movie in itself - full of pure Americana.

 

3. Halloween Doodle - This is not art, but stop-action photography showing Google employees spending hours creating Jack-O-Lanterns purely for our enjoyment.

 

4. Les Paul Guitar Doodle - This doodle made me appreciate the lengths Google will go for our entertainment. This doodle can actually be strummed by moving your mouse over the guitar strings. And you can even record what you play. Talk about customer/employee satisfaction!

 

5. John Lennon's Birthday - This doodle is Pop Art within Pop Art - employing Lennon's own simple artistic style and wrapping it around the signature song of his abbreviated solo career, "Imagine".

 

6. The Flintstones - What modern, Stone Age family wouldn't want to be immortalized in a doodle? Nothing deep or thought-provoking - just plain fun.

 

7. Pac-Man Doodle - Daily Google users of my generation certainly number in the hundreds of millions, probably easily eclipsing more than a billion daily searches. No doubt this May 21, 2010 doodle had you thinking of ghosts (Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde), fruit, highscores and that signature sound "wonka wonka, wonka" . . . .

 

8. Anniversary of First Moon Landing - Many doodles are dedicated to birthdays, anniversaries and remebrances of historical events. This is my favorite . . . "One Giant Leap . . ."

 

There's my short list - many more are out there still. A faceless internet search engine knows what we need - to be entertained, appreciated, not taken for granted.

 

Google gets it.