The Internet and the world wide web as we know it has come a long way from its original use. Evolving the simple connections between mainframe computers and terminals to the world wide instant connection it is today took approximately 40 years. Originally only used by scientist and institutions for sharing information a drastic change came in the 1980's when Internet service became commercial. In order to have success being commercial the Internet needed to be streamlined for the common person's use. In 1996 two Stanford PhD. students began working on a project that would revolutionize the world wide web.
There were search engines before Google, but Google set itself apart with an algorithm that was designed to put the most pertinent pages first. This change allowed for a simplified search engine that was renown for providing extremely relevant results. The company grew exponentially to the powerhouse it now is today offering a variety of different tools for navigating the web.
The search function of Google is the most popular application that is offered for navigating the web, but Google offers many more services for web browsing. iGoogle offers a personalized web browser home page that offers many of the same tools that a computers desktop has on it. Also, there are applications to run websites on this home page that Google owns or is partners with. Bookmark is a tool that allows you to mark your most visited websites for access with just a click. These bookmarks can be transferred to any other computer using a Google ID and Password.
Although Google conquers the Internet spatially it also boasts a large group of geographic applications. One of the most interactive is Google Earth which allows the user to view 3D images of almost the whole globe. Two more applications that are a little closer to home are Offers and Maps. Maps can be used like a GPS with turn by turn directions. Offers gives hints for discounts and deals on various social events and commercial products. Still, tools that relate to locations Panoramio and Latitude could be considered social programs. Panoramio allows users to share and view photos all over the world, while Latitude lets users locate friends and family if they also use Latitude. Finally one of the most advanced tool offered is a variety of Auto CAD called Sketch up.
These are only some of the variety of tools that Google offers all of which are free. There are other search engines that compete with Google such as Bing but none that surpass the wide range of services it offers. The Internet would have became as large as it is today without Google, but its creation helped people find websites they wanted faster and accelerated the Internet to the global phenomenon it now is.
1.http://www.google.com/about/corporate/company/history.html
2.http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/google1.htm
3.http://www.google.com/intl/en/about/products/index.html
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