Too High Expectations

I have had to do a lot of research for my debate class within the last couple of weeks. And while at the time, I was unbelievably annoyed with Google and JSTOR leading me too absolutely useless website, something occurred to me while reading the assignment in Ambient Findability.

When I read the portions of the text discussing keywords, I realized I take these couple of words or phrases and search engines for granted.

Maybe it is just me, but I expect Google, or any search engine for that matter, to find exactly what I need. I know my role in the process, I type what I am looking for in the search, and the website does the rest. And then I get irritated when I can’t find what I’m looking for.

But in reality, it is my fault. I know I expect Google to be all knowing, that it can find anything and everything for me. That’s why I use it. But if the user is incapable of searching for what he or she needs, how can we expect search engines to be capable of searching for it? Of course this seems obvious: the Internet can only do what we want it to do. But in a world of quick finds and easy moves I feel that people expect the Internet to do all of the work. And maybe that is the problem with our society. Maybe due to all of the recent advances, we expect too much of our technology.

So while everyone is asking if Google makes people stupid, I am asking if it is not Google’s fault, but rather the expectations people have for Google that is causing a “dumber society.”