Privacy Invasion!

So last week I created a Prezi describing a breach in security for the Google's Android Marketplace. It is estimated that about 50 applications were affected by malware known as DroidDream. The malware carried the capability to send sensitive information from infected phones to remote servers. Obviously, this was a major invasion of people's privacy. However, Google took quick action once the malware was discovered by the smartphone security company, Lookout. The first thing Google did was identify the users responsible for uploading the infected applications and discovered that the developers used the names Kingmall2010, Myournet, and we20090202. After they identified the developers and the applications, Google quickly removed the applications from the marketplace. Since the applications were downloaded by many users and not all of them could be notified of the breach, Google began remotely removing the applications from phones after several days. While they appear to have the breach under control, it raised a big question to me: If Google can remotely access and alter data on your phone, how do we know that they are not invading our privacy? While this question may cause a lot of concern for some people, I personally choose to trust Google, because I don't see a motive for them to put their business in jeopardy like that. It is very interesting to thing about, though.

Showdown: GoogleDocs vs. MS Office

Will cloud computing be the way of the future? How long can Microsoft hold on to its large market share of document processing software? It's hard to tell at the moment but Google is certainly going to make Microsoft rethink their strategy. GoogleDocs gives people the option for a free, online office suite to create documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Other than being free, Google's other advantage is that they offer storage space so that your saved files can be accessed from any computer with an internet connection. Add in simple to use features, real time collaboration, and peace of mind knowing you won't lose your files and GoogleDocs seems like a great alternative to dropping several hundred dollars on Microsoft Office. Microsoft isn't going down without a fight though. They introduced the Live Workspace a couple years ago that allows users to upload their files and store them on the cloud. However, this feature of Office doesn't allow for online collaboration and lacks several other features that GoogleDocs offers. Ultimately, I believe Office will reign supreme for several more years based on that their software has such extensive features that most businesses and institutions will continue to purchase large license agreements from Microsoft. However, the average user who cannot afford or does not require all the features of Office will move towards GoogleDocs and its free services.

Google

For a company that was started by two graduate students roughly 13 years ago, Google has become the leader in internet searches and technology. Google owes much of its success to the business philosophy that they follow. There is a list of ten things on Googles corporate page that make up what can be described as the Ten Google Commandments. Two that popped out to me were: "Focus on the user and all else will follow" and "You can make money without doing evil." The first is probably the biggest contributor to Google's success because of its similarity to Web 2.0 theories. By pledging to not do evil, Google looks much better in the eyes of its users and businesses are more likely to advertise with them because of their fairness. Although Google now has many different offerings their search algorithm remains at its core. By building around the success of the search engine with PageRank and AdSense Google has generated billions of dollars of revenue. A groundbreaking company like Google continues to innovate and encourages creativity from its employees by allowing them to have fun and enjoy being at work. Pictures of Google offices will probably make you feel like a little kid again. They have everything from indoor slides to gondola offices. Needless to say, you would have to be crazy to not want to work for Google

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