Google is famous for being a hub of innovation, creating products which have the potential to change our lives in ways that no one imagined even a year before they were released. Google always manages to monetize these projects, improving the world while earning a profit. Looking at the evolution of these projects offers an insight into how Google thinks, and helps everyone else appreciate the great affect that this company has had on our lives. Every once in a while, Google comes out with something that will change lives across the globe, and the most recent of these is Project Loon.
In an effort to help ensure that everyone around the world has internet access, Project Loon aims to use balloons which carry signals to help make internet more accessible. Loon is made up of two parts – a balloon transmitter and a spherical receiver. The transmitter is placed inside a balloon, which moves around the world using air currents and offers coverage to the area it is flying above. The receiver is attached to a home or school and accepts the signal, turning it into a wireless signal that any device can use. This project has recently begun preliminary testing, with numerous areas in New Zealand now receiving free internet from Google as a stress-test. If this project is viable, it will allow people all over the world, especially in places too remote to receive wired internet, to gain access to the internet for an affordable price. Google’s projects always have an upside for Google, and this is no exception. Google has always been an advocate of faster, more accessible internet, even launching Google Fiber to help bring the United States’ internet up to speed. If Project Loon is a success, Google will quickly gain access to an untapped market, with their advertising revenue able to jump through the increased usage of Google Search, as well as their other free services, such as Google Docs and Youtube.
Google has a great track record of developing projects to their highest potential with the precedent for this path being seen in Android as well as other currently ongoing innovations such as the self-driven car. With these in mind, we can expect that Google will ensure that Project Loon has a positive effect both on society and on Google’s bottom line.
