It amazes me that I still run into people ALL THE TIME who don't know how to use Google well.

And when I say well, I mean REALLY WELL.  Like, in real time.

Maybe it comes from being born into the Google Generation, but whenever I don't know something the first thing I do is fire up a browser and ask Google.  99.999% of the time I can find what I'm looking for.

When somebody walks up to me and asks me "how do I do X?", or "can you give me an opinion on Y?" the first thing I do is ask them if they've googled it, and I'm often shocked that they have not.  Sometimes I get a look like "why would I search on the Internet when I have people I can quickly ask?" which is completely backwards from my thought process.

First of all, my opinion is going to be worth very little compared with the collective wisdom of everyone who participates on the Internet.  A lot of people out there are much smarter than I, you probably want to check with them first.

Secondly, if you know how to use Google, it usually only takes a couple of seconds to find the answer to whatever you're looking for.

Over the phone, when people don't know you're typing away on Google, you can look like a human dictionary.  I remember multiple times when people were asking me obscure technical questions on the phone (yeah, I'll admit a couple of these times have been phone interviews), I'd check Google while I asked for clarification, and by the time they were done talking I'd have a confident answer ready.

Anyway, this post is an effort to help educate people on the wonders of Google and the Web, and avoid those uncomfortable moments when people mumble "um, no" after I ask them if they've consulted Google yet.