Google is a tool, to be used like any other tool. I'm very good at solving most problems that come up in whatever I'm working on, but Google can also be a mass

Google is a tool, to be used like any other tool. I'm very good at solving most problems that come up in whatever I'm working on, but Google can also be a massive "accelerator". Often times I've thrown at error message at Google just to get an idea about where the general problem may lie (is it me, is it the system, is it even fixable?), etc. Before Google you'd have to weed through manuals (if you owned all the right ones) or ask a question on something like FidoNET. Getting answers took much longer, sometimes that allowed you to solve the problem on your own by giving you lots of time to think about it. Other times it just delayed your progress.