Google has come a long way since its birth in September 7th, 1998 — it’s now one of the world’s biggest companies, worth $166 billion. Yesterday was the 10th year of Google’s success; it seems almost impossible to think of how information was found before 10 years ago.

Gandhi changed the world. The steam engine changed the world. Heart transplants changed the world. The Internet changed the world. Google simply made a small (albeit important) contribution toward making Internet a better experience for all of us. [GigaOM]

One would argue that Google is nothing special, and that there are plenty of other search engines out there. The others don’t work; it’s just like the iPod vs. other MP3 players.

If Google were even to have downtime for day, the world would be at panic. Whether it’s people at home or at work — Google is relied upon as a resource for finding everything on the Internet. I even use it as a calculator, measurements converter and it’s other built-in functionalities — not to mention their Gmail and Calendar services.

Sure, Facebook could easily be the most active social network right now — but will it keep its position in the years to come? What initially started as an internal site for students in Mark Zuckerberg’s college has expanded into a global phenomenon. Facebook has seen massive growth in the last year. But, like MySpace is slowly becoming — it could become history soon.

I personally prefer Facebook to the other “major” social networks like MySpace and Bebo, because of its simplicity and ease of use. Although, with the launch of Facebook third-party applications, the site has become a lot more cluttered and MySpace-esque. Facebook have managed to keep rolling out new features to keep the users happy so far, including their minimal advertising system. Compared to regular banner advertisements, Facebook have more targeted ads — sometimes including mention of a user’s friend (with their permission).

It’s not all good at Facebook: They have alreaedy been alleged of stealing the idea from ConnectU. Facebook may also not be making as much money as you think; in fact they could be losing it, according to this TechCrunch article.

There are plenty of up-and-coming social networks being created all the time: Some good, some bad. Facebook’s end could be nearer than you think. Or, Facebook could surpass Google and become the biggest website on the Internet, holding all information in one place. The future will be interesting…

According to TechCrunch, Facebook is to launch an IM service of its own, possibly as soon as next week. I’ve thought up three reasons why Facebook’s IM won’t work:

Not innovative

I can’t go ahead and say it’s not innovative without seeing or using it, but given from what Facebook has done in the past, I can see this just being a plain old web-based IM, branded with the Facebook logo.

Jabber

Jabber is a great thing for users, but what about Facebook themselves? Surely advertising revenue is lost through people using other IM clients than their own.

Web-based IM hasn’t taken off

And it probably never will - not until the semantic web (a.k.a. “Web 3.0″). It’s just something about desktop applications that makes them feel more responsive, reliable and generally better than web-based ones. I like to be signed on to MSN, AIM, Yahoo and Google Talk for all the time I’m using my computer. I don’t think anyone wants to be logged on to a website all day. Saying that, you do have the option to use something like Adium through the Jabber platform.

Another point about the whole web-based thing - you won’t get rich, visual experiences on a website. Webcam conversations, audio conversations can be done through websites - but not that well - nothing like Skype.

I know a lot of people are now excited about Facebook’s IM, but I still think the big guys (MSN and AIM) are there to stay for quite some time. Just because it’s branded “Facebook” doesn’t mean it’s good.