Saturday, January 25, 2014

The new GE: Google, everywhere

The new GE: Google, everywhere
With a string of deals the internet giant has positioned itself to become a big inventor, and reinventor, of hardware

Google’s popular search engine and Android cell phone stemmed from a push to develop more services that everyone would use daily from Larry Page, Google’s chief executive. Google has a growing range of products and services, from developing wearable gadgets like Google Glass to their increased interest in investment for products such as Nest Labs sophisticated thermostats and smoke detectors. Google, similar to General Electric’s growth from the industrial and financial boom, develops its business through an emphasis on data. Google has been profitable from innovative engineering based on collecting data to make physical devices more intelligent and appeal to todays, and tomorrows, consumer. The process of using data in the engineering development process of products came about in the industrial industry. Google uses this fundamental step in business along with continuous innovation to keep up with competition and consumer demand. Google’s business profits from collecting data to create new products. In order to collect data beyond Google’s current sources, such as the Android phone and its search engine, it is looking into investing in companies with strong data resources and talent. Last week Google said it would pay $3.2 billion in cash for Nest Labs’ thermostats and smoke detector, which would help Google’s hardware business.  This offer has made some skeptical for more than the large price tag. Google has grown tremendously in the past few years and has become very diverse in their business. Google has gained profits from recent expansion, however some are worried that the company is too diverse. Another issue that the company faces is data-privacy. So far Google has been able to sustain its user confidence and if they are able to continue to do so I believe Google will be able to handle its quick expansion.


The technology industry as a whole has been expanding rapidly and so keeping up with competitors who are also creating innovative products and services will make or break Google. Small companies are able to thrive with the advancement of the Internet and increased accessibility of new technologies, making it easy for smaller companies to enter into competitive industries.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

I think it is not just to keeping up with competitors but to lead the new trend is what Google is doing because in technology you stopped you lost (just like Blackberry and Nokia - still can't believe how fast the creative destruction process was)

Anonymous said...

Google has completely reinvented the internet and with that has come this innovative reconstruction of anything and everything technological. It's amazing what they have come up with, especially with Google Glass, but at the same time kind of scary. Big companies like Google and Apple are able to know where we are at all times and collect data on everything we are doing on our devices. The sad thing consumers, including myself, trust these big companies for whatever reason and just let it happen. Hopefully this is not something that is getting taking advantage of.

Unknown said...

I agree with the above comments. It will be interesting to see in the next few years whether or not any substantial government regulation will be passed regarding privacy rights. On the one hand, by knowing so much information about their consumers, these companies are able to design products that their consumers will like. But on the other hand, isn't it possible that there could be some negative effects as a result of this lack of privacy?

Anonymous said...

I think the example of Google presents an interesting dilemma. I know from research that the Larry Page and Sergey Brin are extremely interested in using the might of Google to not only make money, but to accomplish diverse goals. Perhaps most exemplary is their desire to be involved with Space Exploration. However, the very thing that makes Google capable of such things (enormous concentration of wealth and a consolidated hierarchy) present the same problem a government does. Can an organization be trusted with so much power. However, given the extremely capital intensive nature of space travel and development it is possible without such wealth concentration. The danger, as it always is, is that Google will not be so benevolent forever.