杏吧原创

In The Plex by Steven Levy is a comprehensive and readable analysis of Google and the people behind it 鈥揵ut it鈥檚 weak on their effects on ordinary people

GOOGLE鈥橲 much quoted mission is to 鈥渙rganize the world鈥檚 information and make it universally accessible and useful鈥�. Ironically, however, the more Google monopolises the world鈥檚 information economy, the more opaque the company and many of its products 鈥� especially its search engine 鈥� have become.

It is this lack of transparency that drives our appetite for books about Google. Its search engine might help us find our way around the internet, but as a company with 80 per cent of the world鈥檚 search market and an increasingly large share of the global advertising, video, mobile and data markets, Google remains a frustratingly elliptical organisation for us to find our way around.

That鈥檚 where Steven Levy comes in. After three years talking to Google insiders, he gives us In The Plex, a book which, while occasionally veering towards the hagiographical, is nonetheless the most comprehensive, intelligent and readable analysis of Google to date.

Levy is particularly good on how those behind Google think and work. His observations about the company鈥檚 culture, with its emphasis on treating engineers 鈥渓ike royalty鈥�, explains both the company鈥檚 moral utilitarianism and its self-appointed cult of doing 鈥渘o evil鈥�. What鈥檚 more, his lucid introductions to Google鈥檚 core technologies 鈥� the search engine and the company鈥檚 data centres 鈥� are written in non-geek English and are rich with anecdotes and analysis.

In The Plex teems with original insight into Google鈥檚 most controversial affairs. There is an intriguing description of the company鈥檚 near purchase of Skype and a memorable section on Google鈥檚 political fiasco in China. The chapter on the Android operating system and wireless spectrum is also excellent, particularly given Google鈥檚 intense rivalry with Apple.

Levy is less good on how Google shapes our lives. He is a technology journalist rather than a cultural critic and what is missing from In The Plex is an understanding of how Google is changing the habits of its users. It is as if there is no world outside the Googleplex. Perhaps, for insiders like Levy, a senior writer at Wired magazine, there isn鈥檛.

So what is Google鈥檚 future? Levy ends In the Plex ambivalently. On the one hand, he acknowledges that Google is struggling to compete with Facebook in social networking. But, on the other, Levy remains a believer in Google鈥檚 ability to do the impossible, particularly with regard to CEO Larry Page鈥檚 obsession: the development of artificial intelligence. As Levy concludes, the most accurate signpost to Google鈥檚 future might be its development of the self-driving car.