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Paola Torres
CST 300 Writing Lab
26 January 2021

Reaching the Googleplex One Line of Code at a Time

The technology industry has grown exponentially since the 1990s. Industry giants such as

Apple, Google, Amazon, and Facebook have settled in California’s Silicon Valley. As time has

passed, the industry has grown in both physical size and in the number of technological

innovations, services, and products. These advancements and growth have been possible partly

due to practices and innovations in software engineering. Software engineering has been at the

center of this technological boom and has helped companies such as Google prosper.

Google, one of the prominent leaders in the technology field, began its journey in a

college dorm room. Its founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, first met at Stanford University

where they began working on the idea of a search engine that ranked pages on the internet. They

originally named this search engine Backrub but soon after changed it to Google (From the

garage to the Googleplex, n.d.). The search engine grew rapidly and the prospect of investors did

too. Google received its first investment from Andy Bechtolsheim in the form of a $100,000

check made out to Google Inc. The company incorporated officially on September 4, 1988,

partly because they could not cash the check given to them by Bechtolsheim until they did so

(McFadden, 2020). Google quickly became a leader in the industry and its impact is as apparent

as ever today. Its products and services, such as the Google search engine, YouTube, Android,

Google Maps, and Gmail, are used by millions every day. Google has also grown considerably

since its early days. Today, it has thirty two locations across North America and numerous others

around the world (Our Offices, n.d.).

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As previously mentioned, Larry Page and Sergey Brin co-founded the company and were

both instrumental to Google’s successful story. Even though they did not meet until they were in

college, the two had similar educations and backgrounds growing up. Page obtained a degree in

Computer Engineering from the University of Michigan. He then attended Stanford University

where he met Brin. At Stanford, he completed his Master’s in Computer Science and later

dropped out of his PhD program (Larry Page, Last update 11/12/2020). Page was Google’s CEO

until 2001 then later again in 2011 until 2015 (Hartmans, 2019). Page valued innovation and was

the driving force in the early years of Google’s search engine. He became a successful individual

from a young age.

Sergey Brin, the other half of the founding team, earned a Bachelor of Science in

Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Maryland. He was in line to obtain a

PhD from Stanford University but instead dropped out to pursue Google (Hartmans, A & Leskin,

P. 2019). Like Page, he was also fond of innovation. He was an instrumental part of the Google

Glass product and was often spotted wearing the creation in his everyday life (Hartmans, A &

Leskin, P. 2019). His support for the product demonstrated Page’s drive for innovation. The

product was both futuristic and ahead of its time and was never fully adopted by the general

public.

After both Page and Brin stepped down as the CEO and president of Alphabet Inc.,

Google’s parent company, Sundar Pichai became the CEO of both Google and Alphabet. Pichai,

who obtained a degree from the Indian Institute of Technology and a Master of Science from

Stanford, began his career at Google in 2004 (Sundar Pichai Google CEO Rating, n.d.). Prior to

becoming the CEO, he served as the head and vice president of the teams responsible for

products such as Android, Chrome, and the Google Taskbar (Sundar Pichai Google CEO Rating,
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n.d.). Given that he had led multiple teams, worked on numerous Google products, Pichai

seemed like a fitting choice to be the new head of the company.

The majority of Google’s products are both highly used and recognized. Google’s

namesake search engine has become a household name that is often used interchangeably with

the act of searching the web. Even though other competitors, such as Bing, have risen, Google

remains the top choice for searching the web. The Android operating system, which was

acquired by Google, has the largest market share for mobile operating systems today. According

to StatsCounter (2020), the Android operating system runs in about 72% of the world’s phones

while Apple’s iOS runs in only about 26% of the world’s phones. Android’s success can be

largely attributed to its accessibility due to its open source software. This has allowed Android to

remain competitive in both available products and price due to the many competitors that exist in

its market. This is a big contrast to Apple’s proprietary iOS.

YouTube is another one of Google’s successful services. YouTube was acquired by

Google in 2005 for $1.65 billion (McFadden, 2020). Since the acquisition, YouTube has grown

into a multimillion dollar industry of its own. This platform gave rise to content creators and

influencers which are, in essence, everyday people that have gained an audience by posting

creative videos and vlogs. Before YouTube, it was not feasible to make a career out of posting

videos online. Now, the top content creators make millions of dollars on the platform. YouTube

keeps growing every day with new creators and users joining in on the experience. The millions

of videos that have been posted on YouTube easily amass billions of views collectively.

Whatever Google touches grows and becomes an industry leader.

While Google has had many victories with its successful products and services, not

everything has been favorable for the company. In recent years, Google, along with others in the
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industry, has been facing distrust from users and governments who question its influence and

power. According to Corynne McSherry, “Google has become a leader in surveillance

capitalism, tracking our web usage in order to make money for itself and others” (Sullivan,

2018). This large distrust stems from the company’s practices of collecting user information to

provide targeted ads. With its various services such as the Google search engine, Gmail, and

even YouTube, Google has the ability to collect more comprehensive data that can create a more

complete profile of an individual across various platforms (Sullivan, 2018). The user has become

the product and Google has become the retailer with vast amounts of user information to sell.

Along with having the ability to influence the products advertised to us, Google also has the

potential to control what we see.

Google has faced public backlash due to the large influence it holds on the distribution of

information on the internet. Australia is considering legislation that would require that Google,

and others, pay royalties to news providers for displaying their content. This has prompted

Google to hide some major news providers’ search results (Coulter, 2021). This instance,

although applied to a small percentage of the population, showcases Google’s ability to control

the flow of information. It rightfully has Australians concerned. Even though Google is a private

company, the information that it controls is public. Along with this, Google is also facing

backlash for allegedly “considering moving into the Chinese market where it would be providing

a censored service to an authoritarian regime” (Sullivan, 2018). If this is true, this would further

strengthen the point that Google has the power to control the flow of information which is

troubling when you consider that a single company has such power.

The technology industry has trends that arise due to new innovations and practices. Some

of the latest trends to gain traction over the past few years are cloud computing, artificial
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intelligence, and the internet of things. Major companies are making the move into cloud

computing. At the moment Amazon’s AWS is one of the largest cloud providers with about 60%

of the market share (McFadden, 2020). Companies such as Google and Microsoft are also

working on advancing in the market. Google established its Cloud Native Computation

Foundations in an attempt to standardize cloud computing and Microsoft recently signed a deal

with the US Pentagon to work on one of its cloud projects (McFadden, 2020).

Artificial intelligence is also gaining traction in the industry. It is predicted that the

artificial intelligence market will grow to $190 billion by 2025 (McFadden, 2020). The market

has been propelled forward with the rise of personal assistants and the desire to automate

mundane tasks among consumers. Today consumers have a few options for a personal assistant:

Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Assistant, Apple’s Siri, and Window’s Cortana. These virtual

assistants exist in homes through the Echo, Nest, HomePod, laptops, and phones. They are

accessible to the everyday individual like never before and have become part of our daily lives.

Along with the push for artificial intelligence and virtual assistants comes the Internet of

Things. The Internet of Things is a network of devices that connect and communicate with each

other via the internet. Today there are smart lights, sensors, appliances, cameras, televisions, and

other products that are capable of doing this. The personal assistant devices aforementioned also

serve as an affordable hub that consumers can use to control their connected home. Having a

connected ecosystem has never been easier for the average consumer. If a connected home is set

up correctly, the devices can perform fairly sophisticated routines that make life easier and more

automated; Washing machines can warn when they are done, lights can turn on automatically,

virtual assistants can announce when someone is at the door. It has been predicted that the

Internet of Things market will be valued at 1.6 trillion by 2025 (McFadden, 2020).
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The technology industry is exciting and always evolving. Obtaining a job in this field

requires persistence, knowledge, and some good fortune. When it comes to software engineering,

there are two ways that can increase employability in the field: obtaining an education in

Computer Science and gaining exposure to the job market via internships. A degree in Computer

Science is fundamental in learning the knowledge necessary to thrive as a software engineer.

Most four year universities have Computer Science programs available. There are also online

options such as California State University, Monterey Bay’s Computer Science Online program.

CS Online is a program that can be completed in two years once students are transfer ready or if

they have another degree. This program includes classes such as Software Design, Introduction

to Data Science, Database Management, Introduction to Computer Networking, and Algorithms

which are fundamental for being a software engineer (Computer Science, BS Online Degree

Completion, n.d).

Another way to enter the field is by gaining exposure to the job market through

internships. Internships are a great way to obtain a paid or unpaid entry level position which

allows for work experience prior to graduation. Most companies favor candidates with previous

work experience and as a result have internships specific for students. It is a good idea to check

company websites for internship postings and open positions. Browsing through a company’s

listings will give insight about what they are looking for in a candidate. This, in turn, allows a

candidate to strengthen their resume by providing insight about desired skills, knowledge, and

experience. Besides company websites, there are other resources aimed at searching for jobs and

internships; some of these include job search engines such as Glassdoor and Indeed. Google also

has a built in job search with filters that aid in narrowing results near a candidate’s location.

Along with internships, networking is also a good way to gain employment in technology
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companies. Networking often leads to job discoveries via word of mouth and recommendations

that can help with future employment. Sometimes knowing the right people is the best way to

gain employment in the technology industry. A few ways to network is by joining coding

competitions such as hackathons, which connect candidates with others that are either already in

the field or are hoping to join; and attending job fairs, which allow candidates to speak to and

introduce themselves to recruiters.

The technology industry is exciting and is projected to keep growing. As one of the

industry’s leaders, Google has been largely successful. It has created products and services that

have reached millions. Google, however, has not been exempt from public distrust nor the idea

that it has become too powerful. In order to become employed in a place such as Google, it is

helpful to gain the necessary skills and knowledge to become a successful software engineer.

This can be accomplished via a Computer Science degree and internships. However, to increase

the chance of employment further, it is a good idea to network and get to know key individuals

in the company. With growing trends in technology and rapid new advancements and

innovations, it is a good time to join the technology industry.

References
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Computer Science, BS Online Degree Completion. (n.d.). California State University Monterey

Bay. Retrieved from https://catalog.csumb.edu/preview_program.php?

catoid=1&poid=218&returnto=54

Coulter, M. (2021, January 14). Google under fire for running experiments blocking some

Australian news sites from search results. Business Insider. Retrieved from

https://www.businessinsider.com/google-australia-search-results-local-news-2021-1?

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From the garage to the Googleplex. (n.d.) About Google. Retrieved from

https://about.google/our-story/

Hartmans, A. (2019, December 03). The career rise and fabulous life of Google cofounder Larry

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Hartmans, A. and Leskin, P. (2019, December 3). Google Cofounder Sergey Brin is stepping

down as Alphabet’s president. Take a look inside his eccentric and wildly successful life.

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alphabet-life-photos-2016-12

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McFadden, C. (2020, August 6). 11 of the Latest Trends in Software Engineering. Interesting

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Sullivan, M. (2018, September 27). As Google turns 20, it can’t take our goodwill for granted.

Fast Company. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/90243161/as-google-

turns-20-it-cant-take-our-goodwill-for-granted

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