Wednesday, April 22, 2009

integrity

Had a very interesting day at work because this rep from Google visited us and we were all absolutely ga-ga over him. I think Google is just the greatest company, and I love their products. Something I think is so interesting is that our culture expects companies (read: owners of) to dick the public and their own employees for the sake of quick profits. I'm not just talking about Enron or AIG - I think, generally, most people would be very, very foolish to put much faith in their employer. In such a culture, Google is a rare example of a company with heart. It's such a do-no-harm company that's it's almost a joke, right? Even though it's hard for me to believe, because I'm a distrusting bitter misanthropist who was laid-off in the early aughts and the daughter of a auto union member, I do think they're the real deal. Did you know you can take your dog to work if you work at Google? Anyway, it was nice to reflect on a cool business model, and to feel relatively confident in my own employer.

M & I are trying to pay more attention to the markets - we're both choosing some stocks to buy. I totally want some Google but it's quite expensive. I bought some Bank of America, which, like most banks, is at BARGAIN BASEMENT prices. Ho-ho! So far, it's up 13% since I bought it!

6 comments:

Carrie said...

What about the cat litter? I don't even have a cat, but I can't wait to hear about it.

Caitlin said...

We library people are veeerrrrry skeptical about Google's motives (http://books.google.com/googlebooks/library.html). So far they're being okay, but we're not putting all our eggs in their basket. We've got our eye on you, Google!

Special K said...

I don't get it - why the skepticism if it's out of copyright?

dad said...

Hope you make lots of money!

kbmulder said...

We love Google April Fools jokes. Did you see this year's? Hilarious!!!

Caitlin said...

So far it's great, but a corporation is a corporation, and once they've scanned all these books that are becoming harder and harder to come by, what's to stop them from charging for viewership? It's really easy to change the game when you hold all the chips.
Who knows what the future holds? As a student, I LOVE the GBP. It's convenient and gives me access to books immediately that I otherwise would have had to wait for. As a library person, I'm just waiting for the other shoe to drop. It's not a copyright issue, it's a monopoly issue.
Maybe they'll be an ethical corporation forever, I'm just going in with my eyes open. A corporation is still a corporation, and profit is always a concern.