Lately I’ve been getting a lot of use out of internet search engines, especially Google. Whether I’m looking for a free substitute for a commercial software utility, trying to find a product or service, or just hunting for the great blog post I read last week and forgot to bookmark, I usually find what I’m was looking for fairly quickly. I’m amazed not only by the tremendous amount of information available on the internet, but by the fact that it’s often easier to find things on the internet than in the real world. Here are some ideas I have for search products that I think would do very well:
GoogleStore
Wouldn’t it be great if Google had a utility for finding stuff in the real world? I’m not talking about a list of stores that carry an item- I mean a custom search for when I’m at Albertson’s and can’t find the Ramen Noodles or an employee who knows what they are (yes that really happened). Something that would tell me “Aisle 14, halfway down, right side, bottom shelf.” Google allows you to do custom searches that include only the websites you specify, why not real world locations too?
GoogleHouse
I would also like to have my apartment indexed for search. I’m somewhat disorganized, and I often lose a few seconds or minutes hunting for something I set down and forgot about while thinking about something else. In those moments, I would gladly trade less essential body parts for a search engine that can index the contents of my house and provide me with a list of places to look when I type in “can opener”, “overdue library book”, or “TV remote.”
GoogleMind?
Wouldn’t it be great if every time you forgot something you wanted to say, or a critical piece of information supporting your point of view, you could use a search engine to find it? How about an index of all the stuff you studied for that killer final exam but can’t remember in the heat of the moment, or of clever things to say when you meet people for the first time. They could even have an ad-supported version where businesses could pay to have thoughts of their products inserted into your mind when you search for a related item, just like the “sponsored links” sidebar on a Google search results page.
The possibilities are endless! Think of how much more we could get done if we never forgot or misplaced anything. I think this could be the solution to all our economic woes, if only Google would get with the program.
© 2008, Jonathan Johnson. All rights reserved.
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Tags: custom search, custom searches, Google, GoogleMind, internet search engines, service
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