Googlezon

Googlezon is a fictional company created when Google merged with Amazon.com in the popular flash movie "EPIC 2014", released in November 2004. As the story goes, Google, having consolidated all of its services into the "Google Grid" – a, "universal platform that provides a functionally limitless amount of storage space and bandwidth to store and share media of all kinds" – and Amazon.com, with its, "social recommendation engine" and, "huge commercial infrastructure" combine forces to battle with Microsoft and its fictional "Newsbotster". This leads to the "News Wars of 2010", which are, "notable for the fact that no actual news organizations take part". Googlezon triumphs and unleashes "EPIC" (Evolving Personalized Information Construct), a universal, personalized news submission and distribution system that is so popular it effectively puts the fourth estate out of business.cite web|url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-5504609-7.html|title=Googlezon: The future of media|last=LaMonica|first=Martin|date=December 27, 2004|publisher=CNET Networks|accessdate=2008-05-30]

According to the film's creators, Robin Sloan and Matt Thompson, Googlezon was the initial concept that led to the creation of "EPIC 2014" in the spring of 2004.cite web|url=http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=85631|title=EPIC 2014: The Future is Now|last=Thompson|first=Matt|date=July 21, 2005|publisher=Poynter Online|accessdate=2008-05-30] Interestingly enough, Amazon.com launched its new A9.com search engine during the same year, although it is unclear if the film's creators were inspired by Amazon.com's new product.cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/15/technology/15search.html|title=Amazon to Take Searches on Web to a New Depth|last=Markoff|first=John|date=September 15, 2004|publisher=New York Times|accessdate=2008-05-31] Since 2006, A9 has been powered by Microsoft's Windows Live.com search.cite web|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0DDT/is_2006_May_2/ai_n24986133|title=Amazon.com moves to Microsoft's Windows Live for A9 search facility|date=May 2, 2006|publisher=Corporate IT Update|accessdate=2008-05-30]

The term has since gained a life of its own, sometimes being used to generally refer to real or hypothetical convergences of Google-like and Amazon-like technology. The term "Amazoogle" is sometimes used to describe the same effect.cite web|url=http://events.tc.umn.edu/event.xml?occurrence=390812|title=Campus Events Listing for, "Libraries and University Presses in an Amazoogle Age": A Conversation with Wendy Pradt Lougee and Douglas Armato|date=April 6, 2006|publisher=University of Minnesota|accessdate=2008-05-30] cite web|url=http://www.library.cornell.edu/iris/reports/visionofpublicservices.html|title=Vision of Public Services in Academic Libraries|publisher=Cornell University|accessdate=2008-05-30]

ee also

* A9.com
* Consumer privacy
* Google and privacy issues
*
* Google Watch

References

External links

* [http://www.futureofthebook.org/blog/archives/2006/03/googlezon_and_the_publishing_i.html googlezon and the publishing industry: a defining moment for books?]
* [http://litablog.org/?p=112 Opening General Session: Googlezon, Episode VI: Return of the Librarians]
* [http://webkew.blogspot.com/2005/05/tracking-word-googlezon.html Tracking the word Googlezon]