Today Google released a new search tool that will search your personal files: emails, documents, chat transcripts and so on. The next version of windows, codenamed Longhorn and planned for 2006, was going to be based on a powerful new search-centric file system, but gave up on it – looks like Google is happy to fill the spot. The software’s only available for Windows right now. And, obviously aware of privacy concerns about gmail, Google promises that none of the data on your computer will ever get to Google central. Update: John Battelle has an extensive piece about this, including an interview with a Google representative. A cool thing is that the desktop search will also search every website that you’ve ever looked at, using your browser’s logs and cache. It only works on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer for now. Hm.


Discover more from Jill Walker Rettberg

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

5 thoughts on “google searches your harddrive

  1. Ian Bogost

    Mac users, rejoice: http://quicksilver.blacktree.com. Changed the way I use my computer.

  2. Jill

    I installed that a few weeks ago and have been trying to use it but obviously haven’t quite cracked the codes – or else my brain works differently or something. So far it doesn’t seem a lot easier than the standard interface.

    What, specifically, do you like about it, Ian?

  3. bicyclemark

    Eww.. hooray for google invading the little privacey I value.

  4. trond

    “Eww.. hooray for google invading the little privacey I value.”
    Then don’t use it. It’s not mandatory to download and use every piece of software in the world 😉

  5. :)

    Hi. Apple wil have this in ther next versjon that wil come next year 🙂 http://www.apple.com/macosx/tiger/spotlight.html

Leave A Comment

Recommended Posts

From 17th century book factories to AI-generated literature

When I studied literature we mostly read the classics. Great literature, the canon. But that’s not necessarily what most people actually read. What if instead of comparing AI-generated literature to the literary canon, we tried comparing it to super popular and commercial forms of literature instead? Like the folkebøker that […]