pappi loves the google

Hold on a sec. Let me finish drinkin' my Google branded Kool-Aid. ahhhhhhh. That's good stuff. Okay, now granted, I am a Google nut (plz no fan boy comments) and I suck up their apps like a whale sucking down a metric ton of plankton, but I do have that tiny little voice in the back of my head saying "what if Googles motto is do no evil... right now". That was the case until I heard that they are rolling out Grand Central to the masses as Google Voice. Hang on, one more swig of Kool-Aid. I have been trying to get in on Grand Central for months and was afraid that it might go on the chopping block like a few other apps (notebook, jaiku).

me: Please Google can I have a voice service so that I can replace (fill in the name of the hated, over priced, antiquated phone service provider)

google: Sure thing and we will do it for free aslongasyoudontmindifwekeepallyourtranscribedtextsandvoicemailsandusethatinformationtomakebillionssowecantakeovertheworld.

me: Wait... did you say free? woohoo!

I'm all giddy inside. But seriously this is a really interesting exercise for analyzing the behavioral psychology of this situation. Microsoft would have killed for the kind of data that Google is collecting now. People were paranoid as hell about Microsoft and how and what information they were gathering and what would they do with it. Now, we are freely giving that same information and more to Google without a second thought. Why? Because Google says "Do no Evil"? Because they don't charge for their apps?

I'm not really sure what the mechanism behind this is. If I knew I would try and replicate it myself. What I am sure of is that we have become increasingly paranoid about our personal information. In small town America there was no privacy, everyone knew what everyone else was doing. The more people we are surrounded by, the more insecure we become about our private lives, except when it comes to Google.

I suppose a number of conclusions could be reached from this phenomenon. For me, I like what Google has to offer and I LOVE that it is free of charge and all they want is some data about my usage habits. I hold that idea of small town America as the measuring stick. If all they want to know if who I talk to and where I go, what's the big deal? If they want to delve into my real private life, finances, bedroom activity, etc. then they need to mind their own business.