Count me late to the party for not seeing
"The Secret Source of Google's Power"
before. There are enough interesting facts, ideas, and
speculations in the article and its follow-up comments to keep
you preoccupied for quite some time. This was a fascinating
read. I think we need to think about the various potentials
here -- along several dimensions. Certainly, as a software
architect, I would feel like a kid in a candy store at
Google! Lucky those guys!