The Google Mission

I often hear "predictions" about the inevitability of a Google downfall because they are stretching themselves far beyond search. The Economist claims:

"A leapfrog may seem unlikely, given Google's reputation as an innovator, but its diversification into so many fields beyond web-searching might yet cause it to stumble"

from Out-googled, May 10th 2007.

Quoting Google's Corporate Information page:

"Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."

The word 'search' is not mentioned in the mission statement. Thus, the core search service as we know it is simply a means to an end -an entry point to a much more ambitious goal: "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful".
Docs, apps, email, IM, and the sometimes misunderstood calendar, are all perfectly aligned with the company's strategy (unsurprisingly).
In fact, as an information organizer and management tool, a calendar is closer to their mission statement than a search box.