The revolution will not be televised

Google is again in the news in relation to co-founder Larry Page's attempts to promote Google's "Free the Airwaves" campaign. Larry Page claims that the FCC's unlicensed "white spaces" tests were rigged, and they don't accurately represent whether wireless signals will interfere with television carrier signals. The purpose of this statement is to address concerns that the FCC is not allowing people access to public domain, and that the regulatory commission is instead favoring corporations. In the battle of the giants, it is intriguing to see Google (now watched with a certain amount of skepticism as to their motive) and the familiar vilified FCC going toe to toe over this issue.

So what is Google trying to do exactly? Vinton Cerf, the 'father of the Internet' works for Google as their "Internet evangelist." Net neutrality is a major theme for Google, even if complaints are leveled against them to the contrary. The thought of Google evangelizing the Internet, or anything for that matter, must mean an underlying vision or belief system. The constant "do no evil" mantra at the heart of Google's mission statement is certainly no different from any conventional religion, but this is not at all similar to what most businesses do in order to profit.

In some ways, the bottom line as far as I have stated it, is that Google is always interested in expanding its customer base and gaining revenue from advertising. On the out, this is a very sound strategy showing asymmetrical thinking. Typically when asymmetrical strategy is talked about, people are talking about something like guerilla warfare. This might throw people off, but the truth is that Google has to play a shell game with a world built around healthy acceptance of corporate and governmental hegemony, while simultaneously dealing with the skepticism that comes hand in hand with this. This doesn't stop them from using what would traditionally be called "publicity stunts," but there seems to be a constant theme rather than an unsustained gesture (like Exxon-Mobil's commercials detailing its love of the environment).

Google is now planning out a $4.4 trillion proposal to develop a clean energy plan. Again, the underlying fact is that a clean energy plan theoretically means renewable energy, and thus a lack of interruptions to service due to energy turmoil. That is an obvious bottom line for Google. They want to keep services and energy available because their business is so attached at the hip to energy. No power, no computers, and then no customers. Beyond that it is the right thing to do, and if Google is truly following their mission statement then this is the true recourse of action. Still, with giants like Microsoft now claiming Google is the bully on the playground of the computing world, it is difficult to say how far Google can go with their efforts to improve and protect the Internet. Gimmick or not, Google is fast approaching a sort of omnipresent status where they could act for the better or worse of humanity. It is scary, but also exciting.