Software Takes Command

While reading "Software Takes Command," I found myself constantly nodding with what Manovich was stating. Right off the bat he says, "Today, however, the lists of best-
recognized global brands are topped with the names such as Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft. (In fact, Google was number one in the world in 2007 in terms of brand recognition.)" It's interesting that the most recognizable names are those companies that sell ideas, not goods. These days newspapers, magazines and TV stations are featuring articles about Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, etc. They are using these sites as part of their factual information. Just the other night, blogger perezhilton was being interviewed on cnn about his most recent post about the Miss USA competition... even my teacher mentioned an article about a senator who had embarrassing photos on Facebook surface. I've been warned to make sure my profiles on the internet don't have any photos on them that I wouldn't mind my grandma seeing. It's kind of funny when you think about it. Manovich takes this further though and reminds us that software is the connector, the backbone to all of these successful companies... the thing that makes it all work. And yet, software seems to go unnoticed. None of this would be possible without the engineering of great operating systems that help your computer do what you want it to do.