2006 was a good year for Google, but 2007 didn’t start off too well. The primary search engine apparently forgot how to do math, as both its calculator and currency conversion functions stopped working. The proverbial hangover has passed, however, and things are back to normal now.
Google is getting a few pats on the back for its quick recovery. On January 1, Nathan Weinberg wrote, “Calculator is back working again, at around 10:40 pm. It was basically down since midnight, but considering nobody was likely working today, I’d call that decently fast.”
It’s also important to consider the impact of the “failure”; after all, Google Calculator is hardly an invaluable service, especially in comparison to the company’s other offerings. My fellow Murdok writers and I tend to just use the calculators that came with our computers (although Google Calculator has some admittedly nifty above-and-beyond abilities).
The failure of the currency converter was a little more vexing. Weinberg’s article contained a crossed-out comment on the subject. “Currency conversions still work, which is odd, because I thought they were on similar systems,” he wrote. Weinberg then added, “The currency conversions stopped working just after I wrote that sentence, which is just bizarre.”
All is well again at Google, though; the company appears to have adapted to whatever “Y2K7 problems,” as Weinberg described them, it was facing. Google also, I’m a bit sad to see (although it was to be expected) took down its “Happy New Year!” holiday logo. But if, like me, you happen to miss that doodle, it’s still available here for viewing.
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Doug is a staff writer for Murdok. Visit Murdok for the latest eBusiness news.
