For the next month, Kansas' capital city Topeka ("A Great Place To Live, Work, And Play") is calling itself "Google, Kansas" because it wants to become one of the Internet behemoth's fiber-optic broadband test cities. Topeka has even gone so far as to change every reference to itself on its official Web site to a reproduction of the Google logo, a job that must have driven some poor intern crazy for at least a week or so.
The proclamation in which Topeka's Google's mayor announces the name change praises Google's "don't be evil" philosophy and disdain for suits. (Does this mean the Casual Friday policy is heading out the door for the next 30 days, too? Awesome!) It's basically a big, wet, sloppy kiss to a company that isn't always as ideal as the overheated Fast Company profiles claim. And if Topeka really loved Google as much as it claimed, wouldn't it have changed its official seal as well? Effort counts!
I look forward to 10 years from now, when Topeka's municipal employees and those people who were in power in Halfway, Ore., 10 years ago sit down for a little chat about the long-lasting effects of sucking up to dot-coms.
Meanwhile, Google is continuing to make even more inroads into peoples' every waking moment with the acquisition of the "social answers" site Aardvark, in which a person can put forth whatever burning questions might be on their mind and have them answered by other users of the site.
The queries currently on the site's front page are fairly practical: "Does anyone recommend the show Blue collar TV?"; "Does anyone know where to buy a good british blue kitten in London, England?"; "What is the population of botosani, romania?" In an effort to test the limits of this latest foray into automated crowdsourcing, yesterday I took a more existential tack, wondering about the great feeling of emptiness inside of me. ("Wow, that's your version of sardonic?" Alex asked me when I told him about this experiment.) I expected to get at least one of the usual "yeah, just kill yourself" responses that queries about these sorts of matters inspire from always-online types. But in an indication that The New Niceness exists outside of Tumblr, if in a limited way, the two answers I got were actually helpful.
OK, so one directed me to "resources from a Christian perspective." And I was kind of creeped out by the idea that this question was linked to my Gmail account, which is linked to my real name, which is linked to way too much information on the Internet, all of which you can find by using Google's signature product. It's hard not to feel like Google's whole "don't be evil" posing is sort of laughable, simply because of the company's ability to seep into every single one of the Internet's cracks.
This takes pandering for links to a whole new level.
The Google logo is the worst thing about Google.
"Google, your mom made your logo."
Yes! Achewood! I had forgotten that strip, but it makes its point well.
And I just read the "isn't always ideal" link and had a good laugh at the spoiled techie brats complaining about difficult managers and kitchenette cutbacks. It reads like a source for an installment Rich People Things.
We're not in Topeka anymore.
"Top City" is a dull, dismal town that needs any attention it can get.
John Morrell Canadian Bacon, however, is delicious.
You are missing the absolute best thing about this: Topeka would have faster Internet access than San Francisco.
Tom Frank said there'd be days like this.
I was going to name my new search engine Topeka. Now forget it.
The "Don't Be Evil" bullshit drives me nuts. It's probably brilliant branding, though. Any time Google does something irresponsible or questionable or, uh, arguably evil, there's an endless supply of fans online who are like, "C'mon, it's Google. Don't you know what their motto is?" Never has a multinational corporation been treated more like a sweet, defenseless puppy by so many.
'Be Less Evil.'
The thing is, Kansas is actually pulling a fast one on Google. They hid the REAL state capital, Kansas City, in Missouri.
As far as state policy goes, it's probably more like Wichita.
Any initiative that strives to make Topeka less awful is a good thing. Because Topeka is indeed quite awful, even by Kansas standards.
There's a reason I tried very hard never to go west of Lawrence during my years in the Sunflower State; there be dragons and fundamentalists.
You are correct. WE make all the money/provide the tax base and drive the state economy, Whichitaw builds planes or something, and everyone else farms ADM corn and complains about abortion.
@pete... Although the Flint Hills are very nice.
I find it hilarious that people are still surprised by disillusionment.
Oh, great. Now PLACES are getting into SEO?
Summer vacation in CheapPillsViagraNakedCelebrities, Tennessee? Why not, it was the top hit!
I support Topeka's use of the Oxford comma. That's about all I support where Kansas is concerned.
Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?
Mayhaps you will enjoy this illustrated history of Google's attempts to END US:
http://vimeo.com/9897083