However, it's questioned whether China can afford a web without Google's power. Google is a huge and reliable resource, bringing nearly anything you desire into one page within a fraction of a second, and in multiple languages. If we think back to the PPF, Google's absence as a resource would shrink the curve, and China would suffer accordingly.
As a huge country, one might question how much Google's absence would really affect China. The answer to this lies in the solution itself. I googled it.
What I found was that Chinese scientists are pretty worried. A survey was recently done asking how scientists feel about Google's role in their field. Many found it was "indispensable" to their work. 80% said they regularly use google for academic papers. 60% said they use it to stay current on new research. Their other alternative, Baidu, has a far more limiting resource bank, and does not seem adequate for the researchers.
Says one ecologist, Xiong Zhenqin, "Research without Google would be like life without electricity."
Here's the survey I mentioned. Sorry I forgot to add it.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nature.com/nature/newspdf/google_china_survey.pdf
What I'm wondering is if Google can make it without China. Of course, Google is a HUGE multi-national corporation, and I'm sure they could probably invent some new program to make up any fraction of the sunk cost of losing China. However, since China is becoming a growing world power and the majority of Chinese scientists depend on Google as a resource, does Google really want to remove them as a resource and business partner? I think that the implicit costs of this deal could be extremely costly.
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Yeah I was kinda thinking the same thing as Bridgett.I know google is huge and probably won't go bankrupt or anything, but China is threatening U.S for the leader in economic power. Not having them will be a huge blow.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I do not believe that Google is going to leave China, because they benefit quite a bit from China. As China continues to develop and become a growing power in the world, I think it would affect Google if they were to leave the country. I mean Google is the biggest online database in the world, and as Google continues to grow so does China. I do not believe it would be a smart idea on Google's part, because China really helps add to the continual growth of Google. Let's just say the risk (leaving China) would not be worth the reward, because this would really be costly to Google. A costly dent in the company that could be avoided if they just stay in China. (A)
ReplyDeleteI agree with those ahead of me in the fact that Google would be worse off from leaving China. China is indeed a huge economic force and probably provides Google with tons of use and exposure. Granted, if they did leave China I think the Chinese would suffer as well. However, I don't think it would be worth it for Google. A
ReplyDeleteI really don't want to see this happen since I'm totally relying on Google's database for searching. As mentioned in the comments above, for the benefits of both sides, it's better for Google to stay.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Jacob in that Google will probably not leave China. It's obviously an important resource to the Chinese, which means that they may throw in some incentives for Google to stay in their country. Besides this, China is well on their way to becoming an economic superpower, which means that Google would lose a lot of profits if they left.
ReplyDeleteIts interesting to think about how much apart of everyday life google has become. I think it would definately be alot more work but in America we could still manage to get projects, research, and homework done. Seeing that many of the scientists in China think google is indespensible worries me a little bit for china. I feel like they should have contacts and other sources to keep up with new research and technology. Its good to see a company that has morals and will hopefully stick to them. Going after the all might dollar and stepping over anyone and anyone to get it is an all to often occurance these days. Pulling out of China because they are going against a moral belief of the company I think is a big step towards companies caring about how what their businees does effects others.
ReplyDeleteI think the people at Google know what they are doing. They knew to get into the Chinese market, but because of the opportunity cost, the constant headaches, the hacking, and more, they are probably going to leave. Or, they could be doing a power play, and showing the Chinese what the internet would be like without them. I feel Google has a lucrative business, and it trying to show China the power and influence of the company. This will be a test for China, as well as Google as a political force.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've heard, Google's Chinese operations were neither particularly profitable nor particularly large. Google was proving rather unsuccessful in competing with the Chinese search engine Baidu (my Chinese room-mate has this as his homepage), which essentially dominates the Chinese search-engine market. In fact, as I've heard it, some people think that Google may simply see the recent cyber-attacks and ongoing censorship as being the perfect opportunity to pull out of a commercially unsuccessful business venture while simultaneously saving face and scoring PR points. Here's a link to an article I got my information from.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.economist.com/world/asia/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15267915
I agree with Ryan. At the very least it seems like a good PR move for Google. What I wonder is, what is the validity of scientific research done on a search engine that is censored by the government?
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