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Millennials ! Are they entitled snowflakes or trying to figure it all out.

Here’s a generation that grew up online. Connected. All the time. All that information, always available. What will they do with it ?

You know the digital types in your office. The nerdy programmer coding away in flip-flops and a grubby t-shirt or the right-on designer perched behind their Mac with a flat white on the go.

Well, they’re all here. Laid out in wickedly funny Richard Scarry style caricatures.

The second half of the 20th century as seen by the money men.

This graph jumped out at me.

Look at it for a moment. What's it saying ?

The evolution from manual to machine production (the industrial revolution) gave Britain, and Europe, a huge economic boost. That happened just before 1820.

It's consequences gave rise to the economic dominance of Europe and then America, as the GDP figures show.

The graph suggests that this was at the expense of China, which, in 1820,  accounted for an impressive 33% of global GDP. If you take global population, that makes sense.

However, the Europeans got a massive boost by industrialising first and eclipsed China in about 1840.

The real question is when do the Europe-China GDP figures go the other way, with China re-emerging as the GDP giant.

The latest edition of the annual Internet Trends report includes: 1. Key Internet trends showing slowing Internet user growth but strong smartphone, tablet a...

Mary Meeker's Internet Trends report for 2014 makes interesting reading.

So, Google have just updated their Terms of Service.

You have to agree to these if you want to use their service.

Have you ever read a Terms and Conditions page ? I sure as hell haven't.

Here's what you just agreed to when you clicked through Google's terms:

"When you upload, submit, store, send or receive content to or through our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works (such as those resulting from translations, adaptations or other changes we make so that your content works better with our Services), communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content. The rights you grant in this license are for the limited purpose of operating, promoting, and improving our Services, and to develop new ones. This license continues even if you stop using our Services ..."

They go on to say, "Our automated systems analyse your content (including emails) to provide you personally relevant product features, such as customised search results, tailored advertising, and spam and malware detection," it added. "This analysis occurs as the content is sent, received, and when it is stored."

Wait. What ?

I am giving "Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works, communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content."

Really ?

That's quite some liberty Google are taking. Not evil ? I'm not so sure.

The first question is: What does 'content' mean ?

The second question is: what's an 'automated system' ?

'Content' and 'Automated system' sound reassuringly neutral. But what do they mean ?

Where are the legal definitions of those terms ? How is Google defining what it's 'automated systems' analyse  ? And, more importantly, what they don't analyse.

Is my gmail address book 'content' ?

A benign interpretation would see our friends at Google providing a useful commercial service. We live in a consumer society and like to buy stuff.  If Google knew what goods and services we were looking for, then, hey, they can help out.

No cold calls or hard selling, just a menu of 'tailored advertising' and 'customised search results' to satisfy our every consumer whim.

What's the harm you hear from the sunny heights of Mountain View, California.

It may not be that simple. Google are gathering a staggering amount of 'data' about us, their users. What they do with that data is not entirely clear.

Let's say I upload my family albums to Picasa, Google's popular photo sharing service. What is the legal status of a photograph I upload of, say,  my sister's kids ?

Who now owns that digital image ? What rights to that image have I suddenly granted Google by uploading it to Picasa ? It's not entirely clear.

Can Google now use that photo to 'promote' their services ?

Their Terms of Services suggest that they can.

Am I comfortable with that ?

No way.

Ultimately, it's a question of trust. Do I trust Google, an American multinational corporation ?

I'm not sure I do...

So, do I delete my gmail account and log out of Youtube, Picasa and Google Maps ?  Do I put my Android tablet on ebay ? Do I stop using Google Search ? Do I delete my Google Drive ?