Up To Speed with the Internet Giants

By Greg Schwartz 

While lazing and watching TV this weekend I came across an amazing documentary that helped shed some light on perhaps the most revolutionary technology to ever exist; the Internet.  The documentary, entitled “Download:
The True Story of the Internet”, explained the behind the scenes story of the visionaries who built this new world that has radically changed our lives, technologically, culturally, commercially, and socially. 

Almost all of their tales began at Stanford, where these twenty something year old founders of Yahoo, eXcite, Amazon, and Google brought fresh ideas to the table….ideas that would turn the entire infrastructure of business on its head, and return the historical powerhouse corporations to infancy in competing for the hottest eReal-Estate. 

The movie did a great job of explaining how Google became a fixture in the ecommerce world, showing how their algorithms wisely took links into consideration when determining website importance.  The film also hinted at new methods of viral marketing that would allow companies to rise in the ranks by creating a social buzz.  I highly recommend the movie to anyone looking to get up to speed with the new e-world.  Here is a schedule of when the documentary is on tv again.  

So now we stand in an interesting place.  Technology is changing so rapidly that there aren’t any constants anymore.  It’s reached the point that in order for businesses to remain competitive, they are almost required to stay on top of emerging technological trends.  Soon not having a Social Media campaign will be like having refused to create a website ten years ago, swearing that it is just a passing trend and a waste of marketing dollars.   But it remains nearly impossible for a company juggling a hundred tasks to stay current with all the latest jargon and trends. 

That’s one of the reasons I am happy to work for a firm that does all that work for companies, and enables them to stay on top of e-commerce no matter which way the wind blows that week.  It’s the ultimate learning experience to be able to pick the brains of the ChaosMap techies, people who were actually there working for the Internet Giants and know that world like the back of their hands.  I’m getting nerdier by the day…..and I like it.