Introduction to Google

By: Christopher Robison

It may not occur to you but whenever you search a topic on your phone, pc, etc. you're most likely using the most well known search engine to date, Google. Once nothing but a research project in a Stanford dorm room, no one but Larry Page and Sergey Brin, the creators of Google, knew what greatness was to come. Google has evolved to become more than just a search engine but a hub for the vast amount of features it offers.

In class this week we discussed these many features of Google. One of the main features talked about in class was Google Drive, this allows you to save pretty much any type of file you can think of in one space that you can call your own. All of these files are now protected and only accessible to you, however if you wish to share these files, you can quickly invite others to view, download, and collaborate on all the files you want-no email attachment needed.

Inside of the Drive there are the applications used to create new files such as Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Google Docs is the next Microsoft Word and is used to create mainly text documents. Again its as simple as hitting a button to share with multiple people of your choosing and to set guest permissions as such. Proving that Google Docs has taken over, Charles Cooper said in his article, "With nary any regret, I've created my last document in Microsoft Word, a product I first began using 27 years ago. Now it's all Google Docs, all the time." Google Sheets is used just as you would use Microsoft Excel. Using the same cell mechanism you can create complex spreadsheets with charts, graphs, built-in formulas, pivot tables and conditional formatting options. Google Slides is the online equivalent of Microsoft Powerpoint. This application lets your ideas shine with a variety of presentation themes, hundreds of fonts, embedded video, animations, and more. With each of these programs you can build your document, spreadsheet, presentation, etc. right on your web browser-no special software needed.

Besides the file creating and editing applications there are many other social applications through Google. One application is called Google+, and it is an internet based social network. What makes Google+ so unique is that you can join different communities based on your personal interests and you can set it so that you only see posts in those communities. Another application like community setup is called Google Alerts and it works the same way as in Google+. You pick a topic that interests you or that is important in society and you automatically get updates every day on those topics in your email. This means you no longer have to look up when the next Tesla will come out, you will get news and stock updates daily. Another of the important applications is Google Hangouts. This application is mostly used for educational purposes, or business meetings. Hangouts is one of the few business applications where you can connect with your team from anywhere. With easy-to-join video calls, you can meet face to face without the added cost of travel. Although Hangouts is great for business, the article titled 'Excellent Teacher Tips on The Use of Google Plus in Education' would agree that Hangouts is great for class education, peer reflections, and group projects. With all of this said, I think everyone can agree that Google is the greatest free online tool for anything.