Moving On From Dominating into Still Leading the Future of the Search Business by Google from Richard L. Brandt's Book

Notes: This came originally from my Goodreads.com page where I usually share my assessement on the books I've read. Maybe it's the size of the book that has got me into reading and finishing it relatively quick but I actually enjoyed perusing this small book. Far from being 'gossipy' at all, the book's interesting in many fronts in order to know about some other people who have been involved in developing and growing the search enterprise businesses of the duo who started and built Google from scratch. After reading this, I'd certainly become more aware of their names whenever I read them in the papers or even hear about them from reporters (although I've been using their products, practically for free all along these years). I think there's really a need for more book materials about them even though I think they won't give out interviews as often so as to be used by other book-writers. Consider this as an interesting 'moving on' book because it narrates how the duo has transitioned from being very-research oriented young scientists into leading and very influential businesspersons in our generation. And they're expected to do more of their share in changing and directing our online experience in the days to come, which for sure will bother to no end their competitors.

Inside Larry and Sergey's Brain by Richard L. Brandt

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I've seen other books about the duo, Larry and Sergey, and have, in fact, sold them through my online bookstore (courtesy of Amazon.com) but this is the first time I took time out to read about them from a book. I've not read much about the duo except from news articles mostly from the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. And from this book, I learned about more interesting information from them. Of course, I could have just done a google to learn updates on them but I think this book got me piqued to such an extent that I had to read a serious book that made researches and interviews with the duo. I got fascinated by additional information that Richard L. Brandt shared in his book; I like how he started his book with a backgrounder on the ancient libraries by the Ptolemies of Egypt. It gave the book good historical perspective so that its narrative became less common, which you get when you read newspaper articles and magazine write-ups on the founders of Google (at the back of your mind, those articles have just been spun from secondary sources).



I'm amused but not actually surprised to learn that the duo tend (or perhaps, just described as being such) as snotty toward people who are not 'technically computer adept' or those whose backgrounds are not similar to them. I see the same behavior from others, just like my 2 siblings who have no patience explaining what their works are all about when they're before computers. I'm guilty of that myself; I rather be writing, researching, studying, growing my business than explaining and narrating what I've been doing by talking (which is always cheap and common). I'm having fun doing so, which I think is what the Google duo have been experiencing all these years. And I just wonder how it is really to be working with the duo who has been in the forefront in innovating our collective search experience online.



I'd recommend this book to people (I know some of them!) who are scared of being online, or about leaving their online imprints. They'll get better ideas on how the whole search business came about, which includes the active and still ongoing participation of individuals representing big businesses who are out to seize opportunities amid upheavals in technological changes we're all experiencing since the internet became readily available to users and readers.



From the way I look at it, the whole business enterprise of Google is predicated on trust and innovation (unlike some of the biggest companies that spend huge amounts in marketing); I'm glad they're doing it by following the usual process of testing out their products/services via the active participation of actual users, which can be ongoing for a very long time (hence, perhaps, why you see all these 'beta products' from them). Microsoft, its closest competitor, does it differently, generally, i.e., through the use of so-called 'bodies of experts' who are supposed to know more than the ordinary fellow you meet on the street.



Research is made use extensively in growing the businesses of Google, which somewhat leaves a bad taste to the mouths, so to speak, of those who are disgusted by the mere mention of 'business' in most human relationships. But that's normal, I sense that as well with what I've learned from my experiences when I tell the curious on what I do: "I'm growing my business." This confuses those biased against people who are engaged in business (of whatever kind) other than, say, 'being in school, doing researches, doing art works, into dancing, etc.' The book provides a narrative on how the duo who has brought us 'Google' would evolve into being highly cunning enterprise owners themselves after being done with their university studies. They're thought to be 'dangerous' especially by those who have certain disdain on the use of 'knowledge' for profits.



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