Google No Evil!
You’ll have noticed the GoHuman byline above: “change the way your world works.”
Well, the folks at GoHuman.com aren’t your only friends who have that dream – witness Google’s 10th birthday initiative 10^100.
It began in September 2008, asking the public to submit world-changing ideas, from which Google would select and invest $10,000,000 into the most promising.
I’m quick to give a big “thumbs-up” to this, because with Google’s money, public image and presence they’re in a fantastic position to bring in some great ideas out of the 150,000 which have been submitted so far! Hey, who wouldn’t want better methods of clearing landmines, or more effective ways of making our taxes work? So, expect some great things out of Google!
But the skeptic in me keeps reminding me that Google, as a publicly traded company, has an over-riding legal responsibility to constantly deliver the greatest profit for its shareholders!
So what happens to the vast majority of those 150,000 ideas which have profit-making potential? Have the rights been signed over to Google?
One assumes the people contributing these ideas do want to help the world, so they don’t mind if they personally don’t make anything out of it. Or, perhaps they are hoping Google will recognize their genius and take them onboard. But are there any guarantees?
And what about the ideas which would bring great good to the world – but not great profit to Google? What if an idea would be of huge benefit to the world, but also reduce Google’s profit, increase a competitors’ profits, or reduce Google’s market power?
Isn’t Google, like any large corporation, despite having lofty sounding ideals and the greatest of goodwill, trapped by the capitalist system?
I expect, and I’m ready to applaud some real world-changing improvements out of the 10^100 initiative, and I hope I’m wrong in my fear that the best will never see the light of day.
This entry was posted by Wade Fransson
on Friday, October 2nd, 2009 at 12:25 PM
Filed under Business, Contest.
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