Shipping a large amount of newer business goods for a project that you want to keep under wraps? Good luck: we live in an age where analysts and eager tech fiends are constantly on the lookout for data that might hold clues about future business practices.

This is especially true of large businesses, so it should be no surprise that a cargo freighter traced back to Google should arouse suspicion as it appears in the San Francisco bay area. Photos appear to show scaffolding and shipping containers stacked on the boat.

Whatever the plans for this shipment are, cargo insurance is a must when you're dealing with an unknown quantity that is clearly valuable and sure to attract attention.

So, what's in the boxes? The consensus seems to be that it's the building blocks of a "Google store" that might eventually launch the company's much-heralded future computing products like Google Glass.

The other dominant theory seems to be that it will eventually become a "floating data center," as CNET reports, that could provide support for the company's operation. There's some pretty solid evidence for this interpretation since the company obtained a patent for a "water-based data center" years ago.

According to the text of the patent, this system would be used to move support from place to place rather than provide service just for one location.

Innovation can be exciting, but also brings with it high stakes, and if Google really is building a "floating" permanent location that would be constantly around water, it might set a good example by pursuing marine insurance that covers both the ship and the structure on it.

Related Posts