Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology

210 Google• downward wage pressure and/or unemployment asworkers in developed nations are displaced by offshoreworkers• difficulty in retraining displaced workers• lack of adequate protective regulations and laborrights for workers in developing nations• potential deterioration in the quality of services (suchas technical support) after outsourcing• risks of dependence on offshore supply sources intimes of crisisRestructuring of MarketsComputer-related businesses must also deal with the effectsof globalization on the market for hardware, software, andservices. Lower-cost offshore manufacturing has helpedcontribute to making many computer systems and peripheralsinto commodity items. This certainly benefits consumers(consider the ubiquitous $100 or less computer printer).However, it becomes more difficult to extract a premiumfor a brand as opposed to a generic name. Some companieshave responded by relentless efforts to maximize efficiencyin manufacturing (for example, see Dell, Inc.), while a fewothers have maintained a reputation for style or innovation(see Apple, Inc.). Consumers have increasingly objected,however, to the difficulty in dealing with offshore technicalsupport.While the power of the Internet has opened many newways of reaching potential customers around the world,dealing with a global marketplace brings considerableadded complications, such as the need to deal with differentregulatory systems (such as the European Union). In someareas (notably Asia) there is also the problem of unauthorizedcopying of software and media products (see softwarepiracy and counterfeiting).New Ways of WorkingA global, connected economy is not only changing wherework is done, but also how it is done. If a software developer,for example, has operations in the United States,Europe, India, and China, at any time of day there willbe work going on somewhere. With the complexity andspeed of operations, managers in the United States mayhave to keep quite long and irregular hours in order tohave real-time communication with counterparts abroad.This interaction is made possible by a variety of technologies,including Internet-based phone and video conferencingand, of course, e-mail. However, this is not withoutadded stress. Overall operations can be structured to takeadvantage of the time zone differences. Code or documentswritten in Bangalore might be reviewed and revised in SiliconValley the same day.Global trends are likely to continue and even accelerateas the computer and information industry continues todevelop around the world. While technology can help dealwith some of the challenges, there are many larger economicand political issues involved, and whether they canbe satisfactorily resolved may ultimately have the greatestimpact on the industry.Further ReadingBlinder, Alan E. “Offshoring: The Next Industrial Revolution?”Foreign Affairs 85 (March/April 2006): 113–128.Carmel, Erran, and Paul Tjia. Offshoring Information Technology:Sourcing and Outsourcing to a Global Workforce. New York:Cambridge University Press, 2005.Currie, Wendy. The Global Information Society. New York: Wiley,2000.Friedman, Thomas L. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of theTwenty-First Century. 2nd rev. ed. New York: Picador, 2007.Quinn, Michelle. “Working Around the Clock.” Los Angeles Times,June 19, 2007. Available online. URL: http://www.latimes.com/news/la-fi-timezone19jun19,1,7843626.story?ctrack=1&cset=true. Accessed September 21, 2007.Samii, Massood, and Gerald D. Karush, eds. International Business& Information Technology. New York: Routledge, 2004.Sood, Robin. IT, Software, and Services: Outsourcing and Offshoring:The Strategic Plan with a Practical Viewpoint. Austin, Tex.:AiAiYo Books, 2005.Steger, Manfred B. Globalization: A Very Short Introduction. NewYork: Oxford University Press, 2003.GoogleGoogle Inc. (NASDAQ symbol: GOOG) has built a businesscolossus by focusing on helping users find what theyare looking for on the Internet while selling advertisingtargeted at those same users. By 2006, “to google” could befound in dictionaries as a verb meaning to look up anyoneor anything online.Google was founded by two Stanford students (see Brin,Sergey and Page, Larry) who, for their doctoral thesis,had described a Web search algorithm that could give a betteridea of the likely relevance of a given site based on thenumber of sites that linked to it. The two students implementeda search engine based on their ideas and hosted iton the Stanford Web site, where its popularity soon irritatedthe university’s system administrators. In 1998 theirbusiness was incorporated as Google, Inc., and moved tothe archetypal Silicon Valley entrepreneur’s location—afriend’s garage. However, as the company attracted investmentcapital and grew rapidly, it moved to Palo Alto andthen its present home in Mountain View.Google’s initial public stock offering was in 2004, andthe market’s enthusiastic response made many senioremployees instant millionaires. Google’s steady growth insubsequent years has kept its stock in demand, reaching arecord peak of $560 in September 2007. (In 2006 Googlewas added to the S&P 500 Index.)Search and Its Larger ContextPeople tend to think of Google as a search engine. Actually,it is better to think of it as an ever-expanding networkof Web-based services that include general andspecialized searches but also tools for content creationand collaboration.It is true that search and the accompanying advertisingare the core of Google’s revenue and thus the engine that