Planet Google by Randall Stross

Synopsis by Foyles.co.uk

This book presents a revelatory expose of Google and its ambition to become the controller of 'all the world's information', and the profound implications of that strategy for the business world, and for culture at large.Google has a dream: to manage the entire world's information. They want to access every single bit of it they can - from news, to financial and historical data; from the content of books, films and TV, to a complete record of the Earth's surface; and most controversially, the statistics of our personal lives - from what we have been reading, to who we have been talking to, to what we have been buying and where. If information is power, then Google are fast becoming one of the world's most commanding forces.Google is almost evangelical in its belief that by realizing its vision, it will be fulfilling the promise of computing as envisioned by its founding developers. Others, however, are increasingly alarmed by the potential invasion of privacy that Google's vision might both entail and enable. With unprecedented access to the key players at Google HQ, "Planet Google" is a revelatory - and often alarming - behind-the-scenes investigation into Google's plans, and the implications of its mission for our future.