The world according to Google

In my vocabulary, there exists two worlds. The first world took place before Google (BG) and the other came around after Google (AG).

A recent trip to the very progressive city of Taipei validated this as I joined 80 other delegates from the region who attended the significant event called “A Day with Google.” There, we learned how Google could help us find and connect with all the information we need, when we need it. This event gave us an opportunity to see firsthand how Google products can do the hard work of daily life so we can all get on with the things that really matter. 

As a travel enthusiast planning trips, before Google, I would scrutinize maps, call travel agencies, read the encyclopedia, Time, Newsweek, National Geographic or rely on travel magazines, books, and other related publications. When Google was introduced, everything related to specific travel planning was all of a sudden at the tip of my fingertips — Google Maps, handy planners, travel sites, weather, places, prices, rates of airlines and much more.

Google became my very efficient personal assistant, whether it was in planning our day, our trips, or keeping our family safe online.

Today, the tools of the digital footprint trade are limitless. Inevitably, I could travel to every place in each continent of the world and traverse the universe without having to pay the hefty sum of $20 million to circumnavigate the moon — virtually. Isn’t it ironic that I am writing about this topic that can render me obsolete? Yet, I am beginning to like the idea. I don’t think the travel writer is going to be extinct soon. Google enhances our craft instead of harming it. In fact, with Google on one’s mobile device, one can pre arrange appointments using Gmail or Hangouts, plot travel schedules on Google Calendar, manage databases and important files using Google Docs and Drive, and share photos of the journey on Google+, so one can plan one’s trip with others.

Of course, nothing really beats getting up close and personal in travel real-time and discovering the actual place yet it is difficult to dispute the fact that Google enhances, inspires and entices you to get there sooner. I learned so much about this during the “A Day with Google” event in Taiwan. 

The affair reintroduced me to the beauty of Taipei. Taiwan is a dynamic country where technologically savvy citizens reside. Fifty percent of its people have cellphones and 80 percent won’t leave home without them. Taxi drivers use voice-activated Google Maps. And wonder no more if all of a sudden you have Internet connection in the middle of the road while stuck in traffic.

At the welcome dinner held at the posh function room of the luxurious Palais de Chine Hotel, the delegates, were warmly welcomed by Google VP for global communications and public affairs Michael Nelson, who shared his regrets that his colleagues from the Philippines like country communications manager Gail Tan and her team could not join us since they were very busy helping out typhoon Yolanda victims and survivors. Google Philippines and Google.org, with the help of volunteer mappers from the Google Business Group (GBG) and Google Developers Group (GDG), launched a crisis map on Nov. 8 to aid people in monitoring the super typhoon and locating key areas such as evacuation centers, crisis areas, and relief goods drop-off zones from crowd-sourced data. It also provided information on the typhoon path, rainfall and cloud imagery, and damaged and high-risk areas.

The Person Finder tool was launched to help people find missing loved ones. Users can search or submit information about a missing person by creating a record and encoding relevant data about the person’s state and location.

Walking into the Google House in Huashan Park in Taipei certainly felt like being in scenes of the highly enriching and entertaining film The Internship. In this stylized home created by Google specifically for this event, top minds like David MacDonald who heads the Asia Pacific operations for YouTube, Vince Wu who specializes on the Chromebook, Nabil Naghdy who is the product manager for Google Maps, and others personally shared with us their new applications and developments. I felt like Alice In Googleland as I listened intently to these demigods of innovative technology that came down from the heavens to meet with us mortals. They expansively discussed apps like Google Now to help you manage your day; Google Maps for mobile that allows you to explore places, discover local favorites and navigate the world easily; Google Translate that enables you access to any information in any language; and the Google Cultural Institute that allows you to experience exhibits and collections from museums and archives from all over the world.

There were presentations such as Working with Google that makes work a breeze (Google Keep, Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar); and Cooking with YouTube and Google which can help you find great recipes and follow the world's next big chefs.

We were introduced to features I didn’t know existed, such as the Research Pane on Google Docs, which brings the web’s wealth of information as you are writing documents, the Knowledge Graph that brings together real world things and their connections, and more.

Google products like the powerful, portable, made-for-what-matters Nexus 5 and 7, plus the Chromebook that ensures fast, simple, and secure computing for everyone, were also demonstrated.

In retrospect, the beginnings of Google salute two kids from Stanford: Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who revolutionized Internet search. They had the courage to pursue their dreams as they worked on the Stanford Digital Library Project (SDLP). The SDLP's goal was “to develop the enabling technologies for a single, integrated and universal digital library.”

In September 1998, Google Inc. opened in Menlo Park, California and Google.com, a beta search engine, was answering 10,000 search queries every day. Truth is, few companies in history have ever been as successful and admired as Google, the company that has transformed the Internet and become an indispensable part of our lives.

Google allows everyone to connect with each other and makes information available. It makes it easier for us to find each other.

I made wonderful new friends among the delegates and we vowed to stay connected and share our photos on Google+, where Auto Backup automatically uploads photos and videos taken with your smartphone to a private album, which you can then edit and share. A lot of them are looking forward to visiting the Philippines.

A recent travel report can certainly help them decide where to go. Google recently launched the Philippines’ 10 most searched destinations of 2013 that included Sky Ranch in Tagaytay, Movenpick Resort in Cebu, Tubbataha Reef in Palawan, Pico de Loro in Batangas, Tugawe Cove Resort in Camarines Sur, Potipot Island in Zambales, Amana Waterpark in Bulacan, Misibis Bay in Bicol, Nuvali in Laguna, and Laiya in Batangas.

There are times when the best way to move forward is to appreciate the past. Look at the way our world works today and let us examine how things were before some brilliant discoveries like our digital footprint were defined by no less than Google.

From Internet search, Google was able to expand dramatically and take on other transformative projects: more efficient data centers, open-source cell phones, free Internet video (YouTube), cloud computing, digitizing books and much more.

Step foot in the world of Google, where everything is connected, where the world becomes a smaller and happier place, where we can all hold hands and become one through technology with a heart. To borrow a phrase from the film The Internship, “Google transformed the search engine into an engine for change.”

Google allows us access to this information we need or would like to learn about enhancing our lives. The famous phrase when there is something you need to know, research or study, “just Google it” has now become part of our daily vocabulary.

It is true that the best way to appreciate what we have today is to look back and think about what we did not have before. Before Google, things were certainly more challenging to learn about and discover.

Can you imagine a world without Google? I won’t even dare try.

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E-mail the author at miladay.star@gmail.com.