[PuffinBlue]

I'm curious if there's another company in history that became so pervasive so quickly? Not just in terms of size, but in impact/reach?

I realise this question somewhat requires defining what Google is and it's current size and scale, which is quite the challenge.

To me Google seems uniquely impactful, uniquely quickly, but I'd love to learn of other comparable companies from history.

[TheAceOfHearts]

Wikipedia is probably the biggest contender. I'd say Wikipedia's growth is even more impressive because it hasn't been fueled by a bunch of acquisitions.

[foota]

To name a few (US centric ones) from guesses.... Ford, the British East India Company, Bethlehem Steel, Standard Oil, Bell, Apple, Boeing, and probably Amazon.

[was_a_dev]

What makes the British East India Company US-centric?

[idrios]

Was founded in 1600 when the US was still part of England, so technically it holds up

[was_a_dev]

I'll accept that technicality

[keepamovin]

^^ any GOOG founders on HackerNews?

[dredmorbius]

There are early accounts "sergey" (2008) and "larry" (2009) which smell interesting, though they've never posted or commented.

[alentred]

I have the same first reaction. Google's progress and impact on the society are very impressive, independently of how we feel about it.

But come to think of it, advancements in technology catch up quickly. Looking back into history: Ford Motor Company, Bell Telephone Company: they created a profound impact on the society in less than a couple of decades. I am sure there are other examples. I wonder: at what point in time did it accelerate? With the start of the Industrial Revolution?

[mike_hearn]

It took 5 years until they stumbled on it, but I think ChatGPT is the fastest growing software in history.

[alentred]

Isn't it a bit too early to reason about it? We are not sure yet of the extent of its impact, there is a lot of hype around it recently. I'm not diminishing it, just saying we will be able to tell better once things settle down.

[HPsquared]

Microsoft was a big one.

[NikkiA]

Yahoo did, but then lost it all.

[elorant]

Apple since Jobs' comeback.