[IP] Google Introduces Search Program for Hard Drives
Funny, it never mentions the PC till it downloads the .exe. Not very
useful for a mac
Begin forwarded message:
From: Matt Murray <mattm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: October 14, 2004 7:31:46 PM GMT+01:00
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Google Introduces Search Program for Hard Drives
Matt Murray
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Google-Desktop.html
October 14, 2004
Google Introduces Search Program for Hard Drives
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:14 p.m. ET
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) -- Online search engine leader
<http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology//redirect/marketwatch/
redirect.ctx?MW=http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/html-
companyprofile.asp&symb=GOOG>Google Inc. is setting its sights on the
computer desktop with a new software program that promises to scour
through the clutter of documents, e-mails, instant messages and other
files stored on hard drives.
The free desktop search program, unveiled Thursday at
http://desktop.google.com, marks Google's latest attempt to become even
more indispensable to the millions of people who entrust the company to
find virtually anything on the Web.
It's a not surprising step into a crucial realm.
Managing infoglut is an increasing challenge for computer users, and
the program gives Google an important head start on
<http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology//redirect/marketwatch/
redirect.ctx?MW=http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/html-
companyprofile.asp&symb=MSFT>Microsoft Corp., which is working on a
similar file-searching tool that it recently said would not be ready
for the next version of its Windows operating system promised for 2006.
``We think of this (program) as the photographic memory of your
computer,'' said Marissa Mayer, Google's director of consumer Web
products. ``It's pretty comprehensive. If there's anything you once saw
on your computer screen, we think you should be able to find it again
quickly.''
The may give Mountain View-based Google, the industry leader in
Internet search, a significant competitive advantage in luring traffic
from chief rivals Microsoft's MSN. and
<http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology//redirect/marketwatch/
redirect.ctx?MW=http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/html-
companyprofile.asp&symb=YHOO>Yahoo Inc., both of which have been
improving their technology.
Although the program can be used exclusively offline to probe hard
drives, Google designed it so it will meld with its online search
engine. Google.com visitors who have new program installed on their
computer will see a ``desktop'' tab above the search engine toolbar and
all their search results will include a section devoted to the hard
drive in addition to the Web.
``The integration with the search engine is the key to this product and
what makes it pretty fantastic,'' said
<http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology//redirect/marketwatch/
redirect.ctx?MW=http://custom.marketwatch.com/custom/nyt-com/html-
companyprofile.asp&symb=FORR>Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li,
who previewed the new product.
Google is betting the program will expand its search engine audience
and encourage even more online searches than it already processes -- a
pattern that would yield advertising revenue, the company's main
moneymaker.
The company's financial success already has turned its stock into a hot
commodity. Google's shares closed Wednesday at $140.90, a 66 percent
gain from their initial public offering price of $85 less than two
months ago.
Leery of raising privacy concerns that have shadowed its recently
introduced e-mail service, Google is emphasizing that the desktop
search program doesn't provide a peephole into the hard drive, even
when the product connects with the online search engine.
``It's totally private,'' Mayer said. ``Google does not know what
happens when the hard drive is searched.''
Pam Dixon, executive director for the World Privacy Forum, said she
will withhold judgment until she thoroughly reviews the new program.
``The key question will be if this thing ever phones home to the mother
ship.''
Despite her reservations, Dixon expects Google's desktop search program
to have mass appeal. ``I think most people think of their computer hard
drives as these black holes of information, so this could be of some
real value,'' she said. ``
Other desktop search programs are already available, such as X1 Search
from X1 Technologies Inc. of Pasadena, but Google is the first company
among high-tech's household names to try to make it easier for people
sift through the mishmash of files, e-mails, and instant messages on
personal computers.
Google began working on the program, code named ``Fluffy Bunny,'' about
a year ago, Mayer said, in response to a familiar refrain: ``Why can't
I search my computer as easily as I can search the Web?''
In addition to Microsoft, AOL is reported to also be working on a
desktop search program and most industry analysts believe Yahoo Inc.
will develop something similar.
Google is allowing people to download its program for free. Currently
compatible only with the Windows operating system, it requires about 10
minutes to download on a dial-up connection and takes some five or six
hours to index a computer's hard drive.
Each program user can select the types of information to be indexed and
searched.
The product can pore through the files using Microsoft Office
applications and several types of e-mail programs, including
Microsoft's Outlook and Hotmail and Yahoo.
Google's desktop search still isn't compatible with the company's new
e-mail service, called Gmail. If desired, the program automatically
saves all AOL instant message conversations and all Web pages stored on
a computer.
Google's desktop search program is so powerful, Li said, that computer
users should carefully consider what kind of material they want
indexed, particularly if they're sharing a computer with family,
friends or office colleagues.
``People are going to have to think pretty carefully about this,'' Li
said. ``There are some things that you probably don't want indexed on a
computer.''
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