Suddenly the gear's too downmarket for Google

One of the most unpleasant and perhaps most common human experiences must be when a best friend grows tired of the role and for some unexplained reason, gives up on you.

Not many years after my passion for the web began, a very odd new face appeared. Friends would ask, 'Tried Google yet?'

Google? The named seemed childish, but that first reaction might be because my infant daughter's number one teddy bear had a very similar name.

 People talked about the Google search engine more and more, and before long I tried it and was impressed.

VERY ODD HANDLE

We used a whole assortment of search engines back in the early days, search engines with often the strangest sounding names.

Perhaps Google took on its very odd handle because of other oddly-named search engines.

As I became more engrossed in the amazing new artform, the web, the more grew my respect and affection for Google.

Regulars here may well have noted that I often refer to Google without identifying it further. It became a best friend and one which has got wiser and wiser through the years.

It's been possible to imagine that life might be next to impossible, far too complicated, without the now famous search engine.

It's been a best friend you could rely on - utterly dependable.

The suddenly this week, those of us who struggle financially - me through blatant injustice - are picked on by the now unbelievably wealthy giant, one of the four big technology world-leaders.

Now, suddenly, my vintage Windows phone is not worthy of Google's email system, it seems.

Oh, well, I shrugged...

Oh, well, I shrugged on the train and pulled from the backpack my excellent mini iPad version 2.

I acquired it as a duty-free bargain many years ago. Google coughed a snook at that. No, mail here any more …

Continues on the blogs for my ocean adventuring book, Sailing to Purgatory, at http://sailingtopurgatory.com/index.php/feeds/393-suddenly-the-gear-s-too-downmarket-for-google