There is now a Patents search (see below) on the default list of available Google searches! Patents search is still in Beta. As of writing this post, nobody else seems to have noticed this development.
This is most interesting because there are tons of other search technologies Google is working on that would seem more fit for mainstream. If Google is looking for publicity on Patents search, it is also weird that they have yet to cover this (very quiet upgrade) in their official blog.
I am surprised that the relatively new Patents search got to the coveted default search list before the more well defined secondary searches such as:
If this is some kind of power play, I’d love to hear some speculation.
My guess is that this is a move to better publicize the feature since it is a relatively obscure search. However, out of the billions of search queries performed on Google, is there really that many related to patents? Aside from lawyers and maybe a few entrepreneurs, who looks up patents?
Surely there are better secondary searches Google could have promoted to the front page!
I have a friend in law school who is always bugging me about web programming issues. It seems she has a genuine desire to do a web start up some day — after law school.
She nags me with questions about the “best” web language, or how she can get started. The other day, she wanted to know if it was possible to view the source code of a major database driven website. Of course, the answer was no.
So I gave her a few tips about the industry. Mainly, I de-emphasized the importance of knowing how to program and stressed she should focus on finding a good idea to hire others to implement for her. In short, focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses. The conversation went something like this:
her: Should I have been a programmer?
me: Programming isn’t that great if you don’t like it.
her: But how do you start up a site if you have to rely on dirty programmers? 
me: But how do you start up a company if you have to rely on scum bag lawyers?
My point was that we all have something to bring to the table. 
Programmers aren’t the ones making millions. In fact, programmers are just another cog in the business wheel. The business minded entrepreneurs are the ones with the success. Some just happen to be programmers.