Making sense of the visual – is Google the seventh language?
Robert K. Logan

In his 2005 Semiotica article, Logan explores the notion that Google might be the seventh language , Through discussion of technology and its communicative effects, Logan takes the reader through an evolutionary chain of language, in which the Internet subsequently became recognised as the sixth language; it is from this understanding that Logan concludes Google should be recognised as the seventh language.

I find it difficult to imagine a life without the internet, indeed it has become a necessity for many. Logan discusses the discovery of speech for our predecessors, which was born out of the need to communicate more effectively as lives became increasingly more complex. Without speech the ability to control fire, live communally and share food became ever more difficult, therefore humanity’s first words came to be. Can we liken our own world to early man’s? The notion of a ‘shrinking world’ (Allen and Hamnet: Oxford University Press) struck me whilst reading Logan’s article. While technology has allowed us to travel and communicate more easily with one another it has further increased our reliance on the internet. Had I moved some 2800 miles away from home ten years ago, my overall experience would have been significantly different to the one I am having now. I am able to speak to my family and friends via email, Facebook and Skype, even though I am not particularly dexterous. The prevalence of the internet in our lives has given even those lacking computer skills the ability to navigate the internet easily.

It would appear that Logan’s article brings us full circle, as once again we are reminded that “the medium is the message.” From start to finish, this course has wrestled with McLuthanesque theories, trying to place them within our own perceptions of the internet and what it offers. Logan’s article offers further insight into the way the internet has evolved, yet I feel the article lacks substance and I am left feeling somewhat confused by the claim that Google is the seventh language; I am left wanting more to substantiate the claim.

Project Gutenberg and the Million Book Project should not be likened to Google, as they offer only one thing, the ability to reproduce texts, whereas Google has many capabilities and is first and foremost a search engine. I was puzzled by Logan’s claim that Google has become the seventh language – how so? Logan inadequately explains his prediction and further confuses the reader by likening Google to dissimilar enterprises. Google is fast becoming a rival of Microsoft’s. The shift from Microsoft’s Hotmail, to the superior Gmail has occurred over the last couple of years with many preferring Google’s alternative over Microsoft. Furthermore, I would like to suggest that Google has become synonymous with the internet itself. Everybody is familiar with the word Google, even if they aren’t aware of its capabilities.

While I agree that one day “all the books ever printed will be accessible to Google (or its successor)” (page 350) I think Logan should go further and question the future of music and film on the internet – a true return to oral communication. If every book becomes accessible for free, will music and film be as readily available free of restraints? “Publish or perish.”