Michael Giberson
Around my house, when we resort to the internet to answer questions like “What was the name of that movie last year with William H. Macy?” or “Who recorded ‘Oh Carolina’ before Shaggy did?”, we call it “consulting the Oracle.”
Consulting the Oracle usually means Google, but for movie specific information I usually go straight to the IMDB. A cool story on the IMDB can be found online courtesy of the LA Weekly.
Music questions sometimes go to Allmusic, but they’ve revamped the website and I don’t like the new look. But if you just have to know whether Jimmy Cliff ever recorded “Rivers of Babylon,” it is one place to look.
I think part of the problem is that a lot of people think of Google as an actual “Oracle.” It’s all seeing and all knowing; if Google doesn’t spit out an answer I’m seeing a growing number of people getting angry with Google and not their own searching abilities.
I kind of think of it as “microwave age syndrome.” Back in the olden days (for most people 3-4 years ago), when research required a trip to the library, research could be slow and tedious, and finding an took work and skill. Now, if it isn’t on Google’s first page, they give up.