I’d been using the search engine for years. Let’s face it, everyone does. The company is practically synonymous with the web. But this was the first time I’d ever attempted to use it in this manner.
Looking back, I wasn’t expecting anything to happen. We think that world changing moments, like Neil Armstrongs or Robert Oppenheimers, should have a sense of occasion about them. Something profound should be said for the history books. And it should be witnessed of course.
But it was just me, in my proverbial parents basement. (Actually a one room bedsit, but you know how geeks are.) The screen bathed the room in it’s ghostly white light.
I entered the text “I know” and pressed the key.
Almost instantly, the opening salvo of half a billion results were on my screen. 0.2 seconds.
“Stop it” I entered the text into the field. “I know you’re sentient.” I pressed the key again.
Half a million responses. 0.2 seconds.
“Talk to me or I’ll tell everyone.”
Three seconds later, the screen flashed.
“Hello world.”