Google and the New York Times Will Ruin Trivia for Everyone
Google and the New York Times have teamed up to bring you A Google A Day, a new daily trivia question that will run next to the crossword puzzle and, more importantly, online. What is the point of having a trivia question with a Google box right above it?
The point of trivia is that it tests how much useless crap you have up in your head. We all know that Google is the place to go when you need to figure out some useless crap, so being able to Google yourself an answer to how many cubits are in the Empire State Building isn't that impressive. You just proved that you have an internet connection and fingers to type with. Congratulations, that's you and everyone else in America. But if you can name all of the vice presidents of the United States in order from memory, well, that's pretty impressive!
The answers to the trivia questions even tell you what you should search for in order to figure them out. Basically Google and the New York Times are telling us that we don't need to bother having brains anymore, because we Google. So go ahead and forget if Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead came before or after Uncle Buck, because it is completely irrelevant. Clear your mind of all that knowledge cluttering it up, because, thanks to Google, you'll never have another cocktail party argument about the Magna Carta again. Thanks, Google! But what in the world are we going to argue about now and how the hell are we going to impress strangers?