The Importance of MIS
We are living in an era referred to as the Information Age, a period in human history characterized by the shift from an economy based on industrial production to one based on information and computerization.10This shift has changed virtually every aspect of our lives, from the way we communicate with friends, coworkers, and loved ones to the way we purchase goods and carry out various financial transactions. What: advancement made this shift possible? You guessed it—the Internet!
As with most technological innovations, the Internet started out as a project sponsored by both research and governmental entities. It took several decades to lay the groundwork for the Internet as we know it today, and the tipping point for widespread Internet use was the introduction of Netscape Navigator, the Web browser of choice in the mid-1990s. The adoption and use of Netscape was critical because it allowed fledgling Internet users to access information posted by other users around the world. At that time, the content available on the Internet was minimal and only tech-savvy users could create and manage content. Over time, the amount of information available became so great that new tools were needed to search the Internet. Enter Google.
Google Searches for a Better Future in Alphabet
Today, Google is the dominant Internet search engine and is one of the largest publicly traded companies in the world. What you may not realize is that Google’s core search engine service (Google Search) is only one of many successful products ill a larger portfolio. Google has turned Google Maps, YouTube, Chrome, and Android into successful standalone offerings. The success and diversity of Google’s many projects led the company to announce that, as of August 10, 2015, it was a subsidiary of an overarching company named Alphabet Inc.11
Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin decided that it was time to reduce their involvement in the daily management of Google projects. To facilitate this change, each project was transitioned into a standalone company with its own CEO, and each standalone company is a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. In this way, Page and Brin can manage the overall strategic objectives of the subsidiaries without having to immerse themselves in the daily operations of each company. Why did they choose the name Alphabet? In a blog post about the new direction of the company, Page revealed that there are a number of meanings associated with this new name. First, an alphabet represents the collection of letters used to define a language, which Page classifies as one of humanity’s
Sourco: Ian Dagnall Commercial Collection/Alai y Stock Photo second, alphabets serve as the basis most profound creations. S for Google searches around the world. Finally, in the world of finance, alpha represents an investment retur►t !hove the benchmark, which according to Page, is Something the company is continuously striving to achieve.
While Page’s rationale about the restruct ri in; t kes sense, outsiders have identified this strategy as ; direct, response to Google’s struggles to retain top talent. in a highly competitive industry. Before restructuring, Google housed a wide variety of projects and research initiatives under one roof; this led to an increasingly bureaucratic climate ;Ind inherent limitations on the career trajectories of industry superstars.’ 3 Alphabet was born to create a new corporate environment in which Wp talent can thrive. In the Alphabet hierarchy, individual companies arc much more nimble and better able to provide the autonomy and efficiency that smaller companies offer.
When future generations look back at. the Information Age, it is likely Alphabet will be seen as playing a prominent role. With all of the projects the company is pursuing—everything from drones and robots to medical research and artificial intelligence—it is intriguing to think about the role Alphabet will play in shaping the next era of humanity.
Questions 1. The feature identifies the Internet as a catalyst for the Information Age. What other innovations have contributed to this era of unprecedented access to information via computers?
