Kai Ohlig 

Google trip

When we first reached the company, we were introduced to Mr. van Winkel, who was our guidance for this trip. Afterwards we followed him to a room, where he had prepared a presentation. Throughout this talk, we learned a lot about where the word “google” came from and why the logo of the company is as it is. Furthermore, Mr. van Winkel told us several interesting as well as important things about google itself. Many classmates asked questions, but he couldn’t answer some of them, since certain aspects of the company have to be held secretly. On the other hand he answered more questions than I expected him to be allowed to answer. When he was finished his presentation, my class got split into three groups of six. We went around google separately, while one worker per group showed us around. Despite the fact that this is supposed to be a working space, I saw a lot of free time areas, like micro-kitchens and sleeping-rooms. Finally our trip was over; we went back to the entrance in order to collect our bags and then got dismissed.

Throughout this trip, I had learned how much effort it takes to create a website like google. When I sit in front of the computer screen it works so smoothly that I never consider the amount of workers that it needs in order to keep it running. Furthermore, I learned that google needs a lot of software engineers and (surprisingly) marketing engineers and that such an investment has to be handled from different sides: on one side, engineer have to keep the website running, on the other hand it also needs mechanical engineers to build the data centers and even the buildings for the software engineers. I realize how strenuous it is to create a website with such a huge influence on people: it’s so well known that people use it to check if their internet connection works. Other companies with other sites have to adapt to that. Despite this great learning outcome, I wished that we would’ve seen more about how the googlers work. When we were shown around, we mostly saw rooms for free time, but not how they work. On the other hand, the workers may not be allowed to share their work.

Work cited:

"Google Changes ToS to Admit Gang-Rape of Your Privacy." Daily Stormer. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2014. <http://www.dailystormer.com/google-changes-tos-to-admit-gang-rape-of-your-privacy/>.