Google rumored to be developing own router, also mowing own lawn, doing own laundry

There's a lot of truth in the old adage about getting something done right by doing it yourself -- but so too in the one that says it's easier to re-use than to re-build. Choosing the right option isn't easy, but if rumors currently swirling about Google turn out to be accurate it seems the company is leaning toward the former when it comes to its network routers. Big G currently relies on hardware from Juniper Networks but may be looking to develop something in-house to handle its copious quantities of bits. The company is issuing a firm "no comment," but the mere suggestion of Juniper's biggest client turning coat was enough to send its stock plummeting 5 percent.

[Via Slashdot]

[coolbee8 @ Jan 8th 2009 10:38AM]

I still remember the April fools toilet joke.

[Boarderwoot @ Jan 8th 2009 10:39AM]

Google is becoming the buy-n-large of the internet, slowly proliferating every aspect of your computing life without you even realizing it because its all "free".

[schmitty338 @ Jan 8th 2009 10:51AM]

Why is "free" in quotes? That suggests it seems free, but is actually not. Google stuff, for the most part, IS free...see? No quotes required.

[Josh @ Jan 8th 2009 10:54AM]

it costs you your privacy, all the ads you get served, and your soul - that's why it's "free"

[schmitty338 @ Jan 8th 2009 10:59AM]

Are you serious? Your privacy? Come on now... Google invades your privacy how? You can use google's search engine and gmail without giving so much as a nonsensical moniker and about 3 text lines of ads that I never even notice (especially since you can just use IMAP or POP and never see a single ad or give up any more info)

[Andir3.0 @ Jan 8th 2009 11:02AM]

Your soul? Really?

They use a part of your data to feed you advertisements. How is this any different than Commercial television? If you're watching a "Ultimate Fighter" you are likely not going to see a tampon commercial. They are using demographic information based on studies of people who watch those type of shows. How is that different than Google advertising a new Ethernet switch to someone who does computer sales and service for a living?

More precisely, how is that affecting your soul? (If there is such a thing)

[STINK @ Jan 8th 2009 11:09AM]

Seeing a street photo of your house on Google Maps can be a little creepy...

[Josh @ Jan 8th 2009 11:13AM]

using imap or pop doesn't stop your mail from going through their servers, they still scan everything and build databases, the more google products you have, the more they can cross reference...there's plenty of info out there about it if you search

i'm not some crazy conspiracy theorist or anything, but if you'd read the TOS it's all in there, personally i don't care, i basically use every service they have, but just don't be naive about it

[schmitty338 @ Jan 8th 2009 11:14AM]

@Stink:

The low resolution photos offered by Google Earth/Maps offer little more information than any streetmap you can get at the corner store, save for some pretty pictures.

Also of note, anybody, and I mean anybody, can ask either private or public (i.e. NASA) for a satellite picture of any part of the world, save for certain, sensitive sites, such as military, etc. Obviously, it costs money, but it is completely available for anybody that wants it, and this was true before google was around.

[schmitty338 @ Jan 8th 2009 11:15AM]

@josh....I know that, I was talking about ads... if ads bother you then use IMAP/POP3.

[Boarderwoot @ Jan 8th 2009 11:20AM]

Started with your internet searches, and now, does anyone honestly use anything else? Gmail came, and now, i don't know anyone without a gmail account Chrome is way better than IE, Gmail chat is destroying AIM, Video and voice chat is becomming more popular than Skype, Everyone on this site was stoked about Android till it came out on that crappy phone Google 411 is free and great, (when it actually works) and now theres all this hype about putting Android into netbooks. I'm sure Google's intensions are good but I can't help to think that eventually Something Wicked this way Comes.

[Josh @ Jan 8th 2009 11:21AM]

ok, first of all the soul part was a joke, chill, it's called sarcasm. second, thanks for the marketing 101 lesson, but i've worked in advertising for years now, and often closely with google, so i probably know more about it than you ever will. third, a commercial served during ultimate fighter is based on generic demo info gathered through nielsen and applied blindly to the masses, nielsen sucks but it's the best we have to work with - on the other hand, google ads are served specifically to you based on your entire history of emails, chats, and web searches (provided you are a member)

[Josh @ Jan 8th 2009 11:28AM]

boarderwoot has it right, as i said, i personally don't have any problem with it, i don't care. i'm just saying that one company building that big of a database, that quickly, and all the while with publicly questioned privacy practices that they've had to defend (haha ironically, try googling "google privacy"), might just be asking for trouble in the future. i am not saying it will happen, i love google, i'm just saying don't be naive about it.

[electricbassplayer @ Jan 8th 2009 1:41PM]

@schmitty

My friend was outside gardening when the GoogleEarth camera crew drove by. You can see her sitting on her lawn pulling weeds. Not really creepy, per se. Just makes me go "hmm."

[Courtland @ Jan 8th 2009 1:46PM]

I hate when people criticize Google for invasion of privacy, simply because they have algorithms that scan over your data and create the illusion that someone, somewhere is personalizing it for you. That is not an invasion of privacy. Google does not have any more access to your data than does any other company that stores your information on their servers (virtually every successful web company). All they do is make smarter use of the data.

[Kronck2 @ Jan 8th 2009 10:41AM]

It will be hard for anyone to top the usefulness of Juniper but I guess if anyone can do it right Google is the man.

[rektide @ Jan 8th 2009 10:41AM]

Force10, a ethernet switch chipset manufacturer, has counted Google as one of its partners for years. This is almost surely old news; what would be news is if Google started selling switching hardware.

FWIW, One of Force10's big claim to fame is extremely low latency switching.

[digital-junkie @ Jan 8th 2009 10:42AM]

so is it Juniper or Jupiter ?

[customholle @ Jan 8th 2009 10:42AM]

The last sentence has Juniper spelled Jupiter.

[ski @ Jan 8th 2009 10:44AM]

Actually the prank that I remember most is the Google Paper. Where they would print your documents then mail them to you.

[Technex @ Jan 8th 2009 12:44PM]

Remember the Google Gulp one? That was so funny...

http://www.google.com/googlegulp/

[FrankLo @ Jan 8th 2009 10:48AM]

Whats funny is that people hate microsoft but adore google?



How fortunate for leaders that men do not think.

[schmitty338 @ Jan 8th 2009 10:56AM]

Ummm...lots of people love Microsoft. There is just, over the life of each company, much less to not like about the entire Google enterprise. Microsoft has made some mistakes over the years....but are generally, IMO, a good company.

On the other hand...what has Google ever done that made you not like them? Almost everything they offer is completely free to the end user...and they have a TON of extremely useful tools that are simple, fast, useful and, of course, free. And all they ask is that their name be on it so that later on when people think about advertising or searching on the internet they think 'google'. Not much to ask for the services they provide IMO.

Also, google ads are the least invasive ads I have ever seen. They are like-formated, usually 1 or 2 lines, and mostly zero pictures/no moving annoying objects... I have no problem having a couple of those tiny ads on my webmail account, especially when compared to alternatives like hotmail, msn, yahoo, etc, etc.

[AMiSH PiRATE @ Jan 8th 2009 11:01AM]

@schmitty338

Google ads are the least invasive ads you've ever seen? I'm fearful for you if the least invasive ads you've encountered JUST snoop through your personal emails.

[Andir3.0 @ Jan 8th 2009 11:05AM]

"Microsoft has made some mistakes over the years....but are generally, IMO, a good company."

Ignorance really is bliss.

[Andir3.0 @ Jan 8th 2009 11:08AM]

"JUST snoop through your personal emails."

You make it sound as though someone is taking your email and pasting it on the walls of subway tunnels. They pick keywords (Nouns, names, etc.) out of an email you might store and they give you an ad related to that. How is that snooping? You can opt for them to never store your search history (if you have an account) and you will ONLY receive ads based on the word content of the page/email you are viewing.

I think you need to start doing more research and less regurgitation of lies and FUD.

[schmitty338 @ Jan 8th 2009 11:09AM]

Haha...you make it sound as if there are a team of evil google-ad-men who are reading your email, gigglin' and making fun all the while, and giving you ads based on what they find. If you read the privacy agreement, you will find that this is done completely passively and all that is done is a little piece of code searches for specific keywords, and based upon which ones are found on that page, a little text ad is displayed.

Also, by least invasive, I meant in the sensory um, sense...lol....as in, tiny, like-formatted text ads compared to huge, distracting banners asking you to shoot some fuckin monkey to win!

[schmitty338 @ Jan 8th 2009 11:11AM]

@ Andir3.0 "Ignorance really is bliss."

Yes, indeed it is!

For the record, I meant 'good company' as in what it offers consumers...I am fully aware that they are not necessarily a 'good' company based upon other, less obvious practices, i.e. competition, or lack thereof.

[Loban @ Jan 8th 2009 12:28PM]

People who "hate" Microsoft are just jumping on the bandwagon and probably haven't really thought it through. Microsoft as a company is very good. They make great products. Windows XP and Office are two examples.

Unfortunately, Microsoft has had some serious flaws in the past which is why they have a bad reputation. Vista and ME are two examples. ME was a pile of garbage and Vista, while having some good ideas, has some very serious faults. It's a resource hog, don't try to tell me it has to be to do what it does, because the current build of the Windows 7 beta does everything Vista does (mostly) and it's footprint is a fraction of Vista's. Vista is the next ME, and it's looking like 7 is going to be the next XP.

Any company that is as widely used as Windows, has products that are as integral to everyday life as Windows, and is as ruthless in it's business model will get a bad reputation, that's just the way it is.

[Andir3.0 @ Jan 8th 2009 12:56PM]

I hate Microsoft because of what they do with their power. Buying out smaller companies so they don't have to compete, not opening their OS/applications to standards so other companies can compete, and their history of bad business ethics/practices. A company can make the best products in the world. It doesn't matter. If they have bad business ethics and practices, they are evil. Period. Competition is (and has been proven time and time again) to be better for the consumer. Microsoft is all about anti-competitive business. You CANNOT be that way owning 90% of the market. They have to play by different rules... and they don't.

Also, as a consumer, I own my copy of whatever I buy. If I want to install it on all four of my computers, that's my prerogative. If I want to upgrade my motherboard, processor and memory I shouldn't have to call them up to re-activate the software that I bought. I don't buy into the licensed permission to use that Microsoft enforces and the RIAA/MPAA would like to use.

[JerkfacedFed @ Jan 8th 2009 11:13AM]

nice um...news?

[Aaron @ Jan 8th 2009 11:24AM]

IPv6 please?

[LiquidChicken @ Jan 9th 2009 3:36PM]

Pretty interesting that the buy vs. build argument made its way into network hardware. I wonder if they have gone to Juniper and asked, "This is what we need, can you build it?" Most computer manufactures do pretty much the same thing with everything they build. They contract with ODM's to manufacture products that are custom to their specifications. Dell went to Delta Electronics to produce their PowerConnect switches. This is pretty much the same thing. The only difference is that Google has enough scale internally that they can do this on a cost effective basis just for themselves.

[Brian @ Jan 8th 2009 11:55AM]

not news actually, every 3-6 months someone leaks a story that google is developing their own router/switch/laser do-dad in house. Is it true? who knows. would it make sense? not terribly. The per unit price of each of their routers or switches would be pretty high since they're dealing in relatively small volume. Will they do it anyway, assuming it's already in development? Probably, if nothing else as a proof of concept to license out to other companies to build cheap(er) high end network devices.

[Patriks7 @ Jan 8th 2009 12:00PM]

Can Google mow my lawn please?

[Tim @ Jan 8th 2009 12:15PM]

If they can do it better, more power to them. If you don't think it's better, more power to you, i.e.- don't buy it. Consumer choice. Quit yer bitchin'.

[TD @ Jan 8th 2009 12:14PM]

It kills me that people complain about "lack of privacy" from Google. Credit agencies are MUCH WORSE. They know things about you--bank account, address, spending habits--that Google doesn't care about. What's more, Google doesn't deny people jobs or housing based on their search history. Nor does the credit agency actually give you anything in return for this power. Nor do you have any legal recourse when they screw up, which is all the time. They will sell data to any butthead who wants it...ask the poor folks about three years ago...a group of criminals put together a bunch of fake companies on fake letterhead, and ChoicePoint gladly sold them tens of thousands of individuals' personal data, which the crooks then used to wipe out their credit, empty their bank accounts, etc. What could the victims do? NOTHING. Believe me, the LAST thing I'm worried about is Google.

[superhobo @ Jan 8th 2009 1:19PM]

I have a feeling it will redefine fast...in terms of internet speed.

[Jagster @ Jan 8th 2009 1:35PM]

I have a feeling that you are a Google fanboy and that you beleive that anything Google makes will be revolutionary.

[superhobo @ Jan 8th 2009 1:50PM]

Oh dear no, quite the contrary.

But face it, few know how the internet moves as well as Google does.

[LonnieDvD @ Jan 8th 2009 1:24PM]

Bah, to heck with Google. I've been a Yahoo fan for years, and I rarely use Goodle for anything. It's a shame how bad Google has hurt Yahoo and similar websites.

[GhettoBanjo @ Jan 8th 2009 2:26PM]

google is best, however

GOOGLE = SKYNET

[Rob @ Jan 8th 2009 2:53PM]

It's amazing reading the comments when these articles surpass the consumer realm. Routing and switching on the Internet is a whole different animal. This isnt D-Link / Linksys grade DHCP hardware. I'm sure other network engineers reading here are laughing too. Someone requesting IPV6? Do some research and see why it isn't widely available yet. Look up CIDR while you're at it too.

[designdream @ Jan 8th 2009 4:13PM]

Google had applied for that ad supported wifi patent a couple years ago. I bet its related..

[Alan @ Jan 8th 2009 5:18PM]

Wow... I don't think anyone has commented on this yet:

If I'm a car buff... and I'm searching for car stuff, gmailing and gchatting with my buddies about car parts... I'd much rather see noninvasive ads about cars than noisy flash banners for "Shoot The Monkey" or "Pie Bill Gates". That might even be an understatement, I like where things are going, where content/ads are pushed to me based on my interests, rather than me going out and looking for it myself.
I've discovered a handful of new things from Gmail Adsense.

I am in no way a Google fanboy either haha, in fact, I have my own criticism for other things that I feel may be poorly executed; I just
choose not to use them and stick with what works.

Back on topic... the big G doesn't need to develop their own routers... they should just dump Juniper for some Cisco Routers FTW =)

RE: superhobo: "I have a feeling it will redefine fast...in terms of internet speed."
http://www.cisco.com/go/asr9000

[olpmcg @ Jan 8th 2009 6:26PM]

Oh my baby is growing up!!!

LOL

[alex1jam @ Jan 9th 2009 2:56AM]

Simply i love Google!

[Bdub @ Jan 9th 2009 2:51PM]

I am surprised that someone didn’t mention the movie “Eagle Eye” with all the bashing going on. Cudos to Google, they see good useful tools, products or whatnot and make it in most cases more useful or better. They are not really inventing items they are just listening to consumers or coming up with devices or tools that we all have complained about. I can’t wait to see the new Router If they make improvements over Juniper who in turn made improvements over Cisco this may one nice piece of hardware.