Re: If all google sites were gone today, where would you go?

[vincent]

I don’t think it would be that much different. Google has a ton of money now, so they are dipping into every bit of technology they can. I think Google is the best, but there was alternatives before. There are other search engines, and Google didn’t invent search, although they did make it better, but who says Yahoo or Microsoft couldn’t of also done that if Google was never around taking a mass of the profits? Google didn’t invent video sites, and they didn’t really even make them better… YouTube had the WORST quality for a long ass time, but it had the most marketing. Lots of people would say there are still better alternatives to YouTube. Analytics is the one thing I think Google had a huge part in, so without them, I think that part would be different. Maps is similar to search, I think Yahoo or Microsoft could have been as advanced as Google in mapping if Google wasn’t there to take a large part of the market in the first place.

I like how Google puts money into a bunch of different side projects, I think that part of Google is playing a huge role in the advancement of the web. I’m currently in Google Voice beta and I love it… I have free text messaging and I don’t even have a cell phone… I just use my iPod Touch and you can text and receive texts for free through your Google Voice phone number. I also can’t wait till Google Wave… I signed up for the beta a couple of months ago, but haven’t got in yet :(

Microsoft and Yahoo are also putting money into side projects, but of course they are going to come up short. Although, I do like Microsoft’s Live Workspace more than Google Docs. Also, Adobe has a nice web suite. It has live collaboration, file sharing, meetings, remote controlling, etc. It’s like you get your own little chat room, like Google Wave. But, you can control each others computer and it has voice and video communication.

Anyway, if Google just wasn’t here and no companies got all of their money, so everything stayed the same but Google was gone, I think I would be going with Microsoft and Adobe.