By MATHIEU BALEZ
Special to Globe and Mail Update
Front Lines is a guest viewpoint section offering perspectives on current issues and events from people working on the front lines of Canada's technology industry. Mathieu Balez is vice-president and co-founder of Syllogix Inc., a management science consultancy based in Montreal.
Google Inc., Silicon Valley's latest garage-to-riches story, is metamorphosing before our collective eyes into the single most important company on the planet, if it hasn't claimed that title already.
And if you haven't been following its (near) weekly parade of new Web-based software tools, then it's time you took notice: The Internet ... nay, the entire computing experience ... nay, the fundamental way in which we access and interact with information, is soon to become radically different.
Whether it be under Google's benevolent technological hegemony or within its sinister monopolistic grasp, however, remains somewhat unclear.