Your idea is now my idea.
The Googleplex was coined by Douglas Adams in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
I’ve named this Googleplex Star Thinker in tribute to the author that coined the phrase Googleplex in 1979, Douglas Adams. Not because of Google.
Most believe the Googleplex was conceived of by Google’s founders. It’s not the case, unless the founders had a time machine. Google began doing business as Google in 1998 and registered several trademarks related to it. The company bought buildings from Silicon Graphics in Mountain View in about 2005 and established the Googleplex at 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway in Mountain View, California. Someone tried to trademark the word Googleplex around that same time, but the application was abandoned in 2006.
Why did Google name itself Google in the first place? According to Google's website, “the name was a play on the mathematical expression for the number 1 followed by 100 zeros and aptly reflected Larry and Sergey's mission 'to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.’” This is also the story that I used to tell dignitaries and visitors when they came to the Googleplex; this is Google’s official origin story.
But it’s not the whole story. As it turns out a Googolplex is also a thing. With the correct spelling Googol within it, this is the mathematical term of a Googolplex, which is a 1 followed by a googol zeroes. 1010,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.
This is the point where Google starts its naming origin story—by explaining what a Googol is, then, of course, Larry and Sergey independently thought this would be the perfect fit for their company because it’s a large number, and it’s also frequently misspelled.
It can hardly be a coincidence that The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy had a Googleplex, too, spelled the exact same way that Google does. Here’s author Douglas Adams’ description of the Googleplex and it is really quite a thing, considering that Adams is essentially describing a supercomputer and AI in the year 1979:
“And are you not,” said Fook, leaning anxiously forward, “a greater analyst than the Googleplex Star Thinker in the Seventh Galaxy of Light and Ingenuity which can calculate the trajectory of every single dust particle throughout a five-week Dangrabad Beta sand blizzard?”
- Chapter 25 of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 1979.
Fook is arguably describing a machine-learning algorithm. After all, Adams’ Googleplex can perform calculations and predictions better than anything in the galaxy! Was Douglas Adams prescient in seeing the future here?
No, I think Douglas Adams didn’t foresee Google but he was being creative as science fiction writers are supposed to, and Google co-opted the creativity for its own use. Google took Adams’ concept but now tells the story as a fake founders’ origin story, rather than giving credit to the original author.
It wouldn’t take away from Google’s impressive innovation to credit the author that inspired the name—not Larry or Sergey. No, the Googleplex is, straight-up, someone else’s naming idea—and yet there is no credit to be found anywhere by Google for the idea.
There’s nothing illegal here. No puppies were harmed. People take ideas for their own all the time. Still, it would be a lot cooler to give a nod to Doug Adams on this name.
I don’t expect Google to ever update its own history. But I like the name Googleplex. So, as a tribute to the author, that’s the name of this blog, Googleplex Starthinker. I don’t know how to calculate the trajectory of every single dust particle throughout a five-week Dangrabad Beta sand blizzard; but in future postings, I’m sure going to try.