Imagine a digital world in which Google publishes all online content and collects money from consumers of this content. Of course, the company whose mantra is "Don't be evil" doesn't demand excessive fees for this service, but rather doles it out equitably to content creators (music, video, news ect.) after the money moves through Google coffers.

As sci-fi and alt-universe as this seemingly wild idea sounds, it's not as far-fetched as you might think. It was Google co-founder Larry Page's idea once upon a time, as Douglas Edwards reports in his insider account of the information-giant's early days titled, "I'm Feeling Lucky: The Confessions of Google Employee Number 59."

And after reading Edwards' story of the scrappy start-up bent on organizing the world's information turned Webster-approved verb and ultimately world-class information system, you too might come to believe there