I agree with Mr. Stagers’s concern about the ethical practices of Google as a company. Specifically, schools ever increasing dependency on a company that does data mining and lacks privacy protection is troubling. Schools are woefully underfunded so his second point, that it is hard to beat free, is true. However, the potential for negative externalities that would outweigh the convenience and “free”-ness of using google could present themselves later on and, therefore, should not go ignored.
On a completely separate note, the author underestimates the usefulness of collaboration on platforms like google in creating the potential for the democratization of knowledge. One of the greatest strength of free online platforms is their potential to make sharing knowledge and the creation of knowledge truly accessible to all — at least all who have access to computers and the internet.