You know, if i were Dave Bau, i'd be pissed.
Currently the big hype is about the Google Deskbar, a little applet that installs into your Windows toolbar that lets you do quick searches in Google. Lots of folks are talking about how innovative this product is.
The only problem is, it's not.
You see, Hotbot was the first to introduce a tool like this. In fact HotBot had released such a tool quite a while ago, and at least they admitted that the bulk of it came from Dave Bau's tool.
Likewise the highly heralded "define" function first showed up elsewhere, as did the calculator.
i'm not saying that Google doesn't do amazing and innovative things. Their search breadth is fantastic. They've proven that an army of cheap boxes can do fantastic things. They've proven that producing results is more important than producing hype, and they've gotten legions of religious fanatics to carry their banner.
They've also got a pretty easily scammable engine (as any of the various SEO sites will happily show), they have no problem with collecting ideas and only paying 10 months salary (no benefits and no long term employment offer) for only one of them, and they have no problem taking the work of smaller companies and releasing it as their own. What's even worse is the fact that anyone who points this out is roundly dismissed. Personally, i'm waiting for the inevitable.
No company is pure evil, in the same way that no company is pure good.
If you're a Googophile and managed to make it through this article, all i ask is that you level the same critical eye you give any other major company at even the ones you like.
Innovation is good. Theft is bad.
