Charlie Brooker, a columnist for The Guardian, isn’t exactly charmed by Google Instant. And I think he has a point.
I clipped only three paragraphs here, but it’s best to read the whole thing to get his point completely. He has a clear message about the decrease of attention span and productivity that the majority of computer users suffer from these days.
I’m starting to feel like an unwitting test subject in a global experiment conducted by Google, in which it attempts to discover how much raw information it can inject directly into my hippocampus before I crumple to the floor and start fitting uncontrollably.
That afternoon, it unveiled a new feature called Google Instant. It delivers search results before you’ve finished typing them. So now, if I visit Google and start typing my own name, it shows me links to Craigslist the moment I hit “C”. When I add the “H”, up pops the homepage for Chase online banking. By the time I’ve spelt out “Charlie”, I’m presented with a synopsis and review score for “Charlie St Cloud”, a film starring Zac Efron. Add a “Br” and Charlie Brown gazes back at me.
As the name suggests, this all happens instantly. It’s the internet on fast-forward, and it’s aggressive – like trying to order from a waiter who keeps finishing your sentences while ramming spoonfuls of what he thinks you want directly into your mouth, so you can’t even enjoy your blancmange without chewing a gobful of black pudding first.
Google Instant Search only works in the modern browsers and only works if you use the google.com home page. I’m sure the browser plugins will be updated soon to accomodate this new feature.