Guest Grim Reaper Posted January 2, 2004 Report Share Posted January 2, 2004 The Internet is supposed to be a vast storehouse of knowledge. But a quick look at what people really use it for paints a picture that is less than encouraging.We get that impression from the annual compilations of the top searches produced by Google and Yahoo. No, they're not scientifically accurate, but their overwhelming popularity lends some credibility to their results.Though both summarize all their searchers, Google is a bit more serious, breaking its results down by regions other than the United States (Britain, France, Australia, Japan, Canada, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands). Yahoo, however, tends to start with already popular concepts (top 10 reality-TV shows, top 10 searches for different people called Jennifer).On Google, the top search of 2003 was Britney Spears, who also placed fourth on Yahoo's list, after Kazaa, Harry Potter and American Idol. For some reason, gangsta rapper 50 Cent appears on both lists (five and six respectively). Real people included singers Christina Aguilera, Shakira and Eminem, and the inexplicable Paris Hilton.The most intellectual character on both lists is soccer star David Beckham, who at least hasn't done anything stupid like basketball star and accused rapist Kobe Bryant, the only other possible contender on the list.In news, Yahoo reported that the Iraq war ranked eighth, just after war heroine Jessica Lynch, but well behind cloning and Hurricane Isabel.Google news searches, however, listed Iraq in top place, followed by murder victim Laci Peterson, Kobe Bryant and French rocker Bertrand Cantat, who beat up his girlfriend, actress Marie Trintignant, so badly that she died of her injuries.Yahoo reported that its top technology searches started with ring tones for cellphones, digital cameras and cellphones generally, and that Britney Spears also topped its celebrity image searches, followed by Eminem and Christina Aguilera.Yahoo's three top movies were Harry Potter, The Matrix and Lord of the Rings; Google didn't break its list down for movies, but the same three were the only films on its most-searched queries list: Harry Potter (3), The Matrix (4) and Lord of the Rings (8).Lest Canadians think of themselves as slightly superior to the rest of the world — and we really do — Google's breakdown for Canada is not very encouraging.Our top three music searches were, in order, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Eminem, and the top three brands we searched for were Air Canada, Ferrari and Wal-Mart, which suggests a deep chasm between our dreams and our pocketbooks. (That trend continued as we went down the brands list: WestJet, Ikea, Royal Bank, BMW, Best Buy, Sony and Victoria's Secret.)Finding Nemo was both our top movie and our top search, followed by, sigh, Paris Hilton and, surprisingly, the Japanese Inuyasha anime series. We use the Net to find phone numbers (Canada 411 was listed in fourth place) and were taken with Lord of the Rings actor Orlando Bloom (fifth) and the incomprehensible Michael Jackson (eighth). Most puzzling was the presence of the Toronto Star newspaper at ninth place; one would think The Star, with its enormous circulation, would be easy enough to find without Google.I'm not sure what lists like this can tell us about ourselves, except that we love to make top-ten lists. I'm not sure I like to be part of a society whose primary obsession is a little blond singer, none of whose songs I can remember.Lists can also cause despair for those of us who entertain hopes for the culture of the country, but we did get a little comfort from Ipsos-Reid, the pollsters who this week reported the results of a survey showing we use the Net mostly for social interaction.Ipsos-Reid found that 69 per cent of us go on-line to meet new friends and to stay in touch with old ones.Mind you, the study covers a lot of ground in saying that. Included as social activities are on-line chat, interactive games, participating in forums or bulletin-board discussions, using on-line dating services or personal ads, or even using the Net for making phone calls.As such, what Ipsos-Reid really discovered was that Canadians used the world's most sophisticated communications system for communication.Wow.Globe Technology.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Shirley_Crabtree Posted January 2, 2004 Report Share Posted January 2, 2004 Pah!! No mention of Tawnee Stone...how ridiculous!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted January 3, 2004 Report Share Posted January 3, 2004 I shall rest peacefully in the knowledge that I've never looked for ANY of the items mentioned in the listing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted January 3, 2004 Report Share Posted January 3, 2004 Pah!! No mention of Tawnee Stone...how ridiculous!!WHO THE HELL IS THAT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nellie2 Posted January 3, 2004 Report Share Posted January 3, 2004 :blush: Well I have just tried to find a link that I can post here andsome... but I can't, I suggest you do a search if you are really interested!!! :ph34r: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted January 3, 2004 Report Share Posted January 3, 2004 :blush: Well I have just tried to find a link that I can post here andsome... but I can't, I suggest you do a search if you are really interested!!! :ph34r:I can see why you could not post the link here Nellie. I must admit I have NEVER heard of the young lady in question, until now that is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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