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Friday, September 25, 2009

Google opens voting for neutered Project 10^100

Google has finally opened voting for Project 10100. Unfortunately, this isn't the Project 10100 that was initially announced last September.

Google has abandoned its initial plan in favor of a more closed, less ambitious plan. Instead of allowing us to choose among 100 concrete ideas submitted by individuals, Google presents only 16 broad categories for which to vote:

  • Build real-time, user-reported news service
  • Drive innovation in public transport
  • Make educational content available online for free
  • Create more efficient landmine removal programs
  • Help social entrepreneurs drive change
  • Make government more transparent
  • Provide quality education to African students
  • Create real-time natural crisis tracking system
  • Promote health monitoring and data analysis
  • Enhance science and engineering education
  • Create real-world issue reporting system
  • Create genocide monitoring and alert system
  • Work toward socially conscious tax policies
  • Build better banking tools for everyone
  • Collect and organize the world's urban data
  • Encourage positive media depictions of engineers and scientists

Although Google lists below each category the more concrete ideas that inspired it, they never commit to a specific implementation for any category. In fact, the only commitment Google makes is to dispense $10 million to up to five organizations chosen by its advisory board; it doesn't even promise that the board will choose the five most popular categories.

Project 10100 had a great deal of potential, but Google has turned the project into just another token charity gift by a major corporation. Thousands of people with world-changing ideas have essentially been told "Look elsewhere for your funding; we don't think your idea can make a difference." I know I'm not the only one who's disappointed.

14 comments:

  1. The 10^100 list is lame. This is what committees create. Vague general ideas that can not be achieved.

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  2. Im very disappointed with this. We should encourage all the people who submit their ideas, to upload our original ideas in this page or in a new one. And let us ourselves vote!

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  3. I agree with @anonymous and it would be great to have the resources to do what @eduardo suggests. As @51m0n said on Twitter 'Google do a U-turn on Project 10^100 and go from inspirational to ordinary.' There are similar comments the these here on colalife.org/2009/09/24/google-back-off-from-original-vision/

    What's disturbing is that we are a very small minority saying these things. The Twitterverse is going mad as if Google has done some sort of amazing thing. How long with the Google Love In last?

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  4. I've also submitted an idea to the Google contest. I agree about to see if it is possible to upload original ideas in another page and to make people know about how strangely (and disrespectful of the initial written agreement) this contest has been managed. Julian Antonigni

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  5. All the top 16 ideas that they mention has already been invented to a certain degree of practical point,

    (Example)

    • Build real-time, user-reported news service = (media spin)
    • Drive innovation in public transport = (trains, airplane, automobile, down to my sons BMX bike with its practicing wheels)

    • Make educational content available online for free = (internet) or if they mean Princeton, Harvard and MIT professors speeches recorded and place on You tube? Well then that would be very cool
    • Create more efficient landmine removal programs = (military, engineers, and bomb specialist)
    • Help social entrepreneurs drive change = (college courses and
    • non- UNSCRUPULOUS COMPANY'S)
    • Make government more transparent = (as good as it get according to the power that be)
    • Provide quality education to African students = (Provide quality education to all humanity that cares)
    • Create real-time natural crisis tracking system = (news report)
    • Promote health monitoring and data analysis = (health care)
    • Enhance science and engineering education = (professors)
    • Create real-world issue reporting system = (of all the top things that can fit into a screen or a time frame, once again its call news report and internet)
    • Create genocide monitoring and alert system = (we all know but what can we do???)
    • Work toward socially conscious tax policies = (politics)
    • Build better banking tools for everyone = (a calculator)
    • Collect and organize the world's urban data = (CIA Bureau)
    • Encourage positive media depictions of engineers and scientists = (everything that has ever been built by man)

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  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  7. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  8. "Make educational content available online for free" in all areas are very important for a better world. A small part of these concept is the Google Body project 10 100. Click in my name and look at the project. Thank you for your views!

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  9. I 100% agree this post.
    Google did not have any respect from the beginning to the submitter.
    I submitted an idea, and I never received by email any received - and this would not cost anything.
    No idea has won - there is any idea in the 16 broad categories.

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  10. Well I believe that we all should post our ideas. I know that we do not have any funds to develop our ideas but at least we can make sure that google will not profit with our ideas. Im a graphic designer I can provide with the design for the page. And we all should encourage everybody that sent an idea to the project10100 to post the idea in a new page. Cmon people we have to show google our disagreement with the way they handle this project (sorry about my english is not my native language)

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  11. Google lies. Never trust Google.

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  12. Eduardo Proaño, I totally agree with you. Write me to opensource10tothe100[AT]gmail.com and we can start to build this site. I also know some other people that can join us.
    If somebody wants to join us is of course invited.

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  13. "Make educational content available online for free" oopps wait Google came up with that idea already, I think it was “how to get all books and copywriter to be online, oh including the library of congress.

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  14. “Make government more transparent” yea lets video record all of them when they go into confessions and post it on You Tube

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