A non-critical review of Google Desktop.

For those of you who implicitly trust the search engine companies with a child-like innocence, I refer you to a New York Times article that you might like. This article is almost silly in it's review of Google's Desktop search. The starry-eyed enthusiasm for the new product is just what these search engines want you to have. They don't want you to fret about privacy concerns, oh no, they just want you to marvel at the technology of desktop search.

This kind of promotional piece isn't an indictment of Google, but rather the New York Times. What I can't believe is that some of these writers aren't taking a critical view of desktop search. There are problems with this whole idea in the first place before someone should ever talk about what it can do. You know what? It doesn't matter what it can do, because it can reveal too much about ourselves and there are so many conceptual holes too. The fact is true that you should never use a PC that isn't your own to access web mail, Google's Desktop will record it and others will be able to see it. The only thing critical this writer said was that it didn't index PDF files, it can't index non-Internet Explorer web browser pages and a few other things.

But that's the New York Times these days, very little investigation, this was just a regurgitation of the Google product promotion. There are some serious questions regarding Google Desktop search, why isn't the mainstream press taking a closer look at what it does and doesn't do. I'm not saying desktop search technology couldn't be valuable, but the current incarnation leaves a lot to be desired. It's almost as if the whole search industry is rushing to get this product out and I'm not sure of the ultimate value, neither are they. Most of these companies want to be known as the first, the best, the ultimate to get more ad revenue and that's all there is to it. There isn't a big premium put on your personal privacy. You would think the New York Times would care more about such things.

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