![]() Today, however, Google is mainly known for its unparalleled search engine technology, running on an efficient very large scale distributed computer system. The fateful year 2000 came and went without mention of information utilities, but the year 2008 has raised the concept once again as Google appears positioned to become the first information utility in the world ( Carr 2008a) and concern about the potential social implications is raised once again ( Maurer 2007). ![]() ![]() ![]() The idea was so revolutionary at the time that at least one critic called for a moratorium on the development of information utilities until the year 2000 so that research could indicate what the social impacts might be ( Press 1974). Not to be left out, the idea was also promoted by the Computer Usage Development Institute in Japan, the British Post Office in the UK, and Bell Canada and the Telecommunications Board in Canada ( Press 1974). In the early 1970s, futurists at the Rand Corporation and Stanford University proposed the creation of information utilities – the provision of computing and information service by a utility in the form of a national network where any person desiring information could gain access – much like gas and electric utilities, but on a national scale ( Sackmann and Nie 1970 Sackman and Boehm 1972).
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