YouTube and Google: 2 Ooo's to Ogle or Double Trouble?
How do you think Google is going to harness YouTube for its company purposes? Are we, as YouTube users, going to gain or lose? What implications might these and other recent Google alliances have for education? Care to speculate? Here's some background.
Background
Founded by twentysomethings Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim on February 14, 2005, YouTube, inc. is a consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience.
According to the YouTube Web site:
YouTube is a place for people to engage in new ways with video by sharing, commenting on, and viewing videos. YouTube originally started as a personal video sharing service, and has grown into an entertainment destination with people watching more than 70 million videos on the site daily.
With YouTube, people can:
-Upload, tag and share videos worldwide
-Browse millions of original videos uploaded by community members
-Find, join and create video groups to connect with people who have similar interests
-Customize the experience by subscribing to member videos, saving favorites, and creating playlists
-Integrate YouTube videos on websites using video embeds or APIs
-Make videos public or private—users can elect to broadcast their videos publicly or share them privately with friends and family upon upload
So why did Google really want to acquire YouTube?
Last week (Oct 12, 2006) Google also launched Google for Educators http://www.google.com/educators/index.html
A site designed that offers guides and lesson plans detailing creative ways to use Blogger, Google Maps, Google Earth and nine other Google applications in the classroom...sort of a one-stop-shop for educators.
Moreover, Blackboard and Google are working out a deal where users of the course management system would be able to access scholarly resources available from Google Scholar from within the Blackboard site. What about the University library system -- isn't Google Scholar an inferior resource and even if it is not, how will university libraries be expected to support students' use of Google Scholar?
So the stars seem to all aligning under Google. Will this lead to trouble in the educational universe or opportunity. What do you think?
Comments
It does seem that Google is achieving hegemony, at least in everyday life:
FASHION & STYLE | October 15, 2006
Planet Google Wants You
By ALEX WILLIAMS
The Web giant, adding YouTube, seeks a mind meld with its users.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/15/fashion/15google.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1161204636-ut/5gkZWQuRSY8gbeBG0XQ
Whether Google's impact on education causes problems remains to be seen...but generally I think services and tools that are created and maintained collaboratively by people whose primary interest is education--and not profit--are always better for education. But in that regard I think many would agree with me that Blackboard poses the greater threat.
Posted by: Cris | October 18, 2006 10:12 PM
I think of all the big mergers, the Cruise/Holmes merger was the most upsetting. How this merger will impact the gossip industry isn't yet clear, but it seems to push other players like Pitt and Jolie and Aniston out of the picture. We really have to be wary of such monopolies.
Posted by: Kurtis Scaletta | October 19, 2006 1:29 PM