Google Guilt and How Nothing New Year is going

Posted by Andy Hamilton - 14/01/09 at 10:01:37 pm

Google Guilt

My most thoughtful girlfriend forwarded me an article on Monday as she often does when she should be working. I don’t always read them as I don’t always have time, and in some ways I wish I hadn’t had time to look at this last one as I think it will have a profound effect on the way I work. The article was entitled “The Carbon Cost of Google“, apparently Harvard Academic Dr Wissner-Gross has calculated that just two searches on Google use the same electricity as boiling a kettle or 14g. This figure has been disputed by Google who claim that one search uses just 0.2g of carbon.

For a while I thought that I believed Google’s figure of 0.2g, I mean why shouldn’t I they have come up with the answers time and time again for me. Little did I know that I just wanted to believe and my subconscious brain was as ever, one step ahead already weaning me off Google.

Whilst researching an article I found myself instead of going for the immediate option of Google which is always so easy, I instead turned around to my bookshelf and took down a book. Don’t get me wrong I do often refer to books as I generally know where to find what I need to very quickly and they are more reliable as a source than the internet. I do however, rely on Google too much. In fact I have been known to use it just to spell a word; Googling the wrongly spelt word and finding the way to spell it, instead of picking up my (very good) dictionary. I also Googling a weight or measure to find it’s metric or imperial equivalent instead of just learning it or turning to one of my many cookbooks.

So this return to books seems like a direct result on what I can only describe as Google guilt a phenomenon that I am sure we could be hearing a lot more of over the year.  I do feel better for having breaks away from my computer and it has been great to engage with some of my old books again. Perhaps Google guilt is not a bad phenomenon (I used a dictionary to spell that)!

How the Nothing New Year is going

I wish I could report on how easy the nothing new year is going. It has been tougher than I thought, already! On a  night out with an old friend (ironically known as two hats) I managed to loose my two hats. With the temperature here in Bristol apparently dropping lower than the temperature of Iceland this was not a great time to have no hat. So over the past fortnight I have been searching charity shops far and wide to no avail. Happily just the other day I found one hat and paid 25p for it, what a result.

As for other things, well it is my girlfriends birthday on Friday I have still not got her anything. I am not really sure what I can get and not being able to buy anything new certainly restricts what she will get. Well that’s for another blog. For now I am happy just to have a warm head.

GOOGLE WAS NOT USED IN THE WRITING OF THIS BLOG.

2 Comments

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1. That’s scary about Google!!
   And I’m like you – I often just google something when I could quite easily go to the book shelf instead!
   Again, Andy, you’ve given me something to think about.
   I know it’s too late to give any advice on your girlfriends birthday pressie – but for future have you thought about using Etsy?
   There’s some seriously gorgeous things on there and whilst they are new – a lot of things are made from recycled material.
   Something for you to think about now.
   

   Comment by Jeni Treehugger — January 15, 2009 #

2. It is scary about Google, makes you contemplate all of your IT useage.

   That is tricky ground using recycled products, I will have to have a bit of ponder on where the buy nothing new year stand with recycled stuff. I guess it is ok as long as there has been no manufacture in the process. I.e. Cup made from recycled products that have been melted down and remoulded would not be ok, but glass made from a beer bottle could be ok. Actually at least for the first part of the year I will stick to only second hand stuff.

   As for the pressie I got her a 1944 antique silver bracelet in the end. She put it on and looked at how it look on her and said, “I think I now approve of your buy nothing new year”.

   Comment by Andy Hamilton — January 17, 2009 #

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