Though it’s certainly a dress to remember, who would’ve thought that J Lo’s daring Versace gown at the 2000 Grammy Awards would spark one of the most important technological inventions of the century?
Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt revealed in an interview that J Lo’s flowing gown inspired the creation of Google Image search as we know it today. After stepping out on the red carpet in the revealing number with then-boyfriend Sean P Diddy Combs, Schmidt recalled people frantically Googling her dress, though they weren’t able to actually see it (yet).
“When Google was launched, people were amazed that they were able to find out about almost anything by typing just a few words into a computer. It was better than anything else, but not great by today’s standards,” Schmidt said.
After seeing how popular searches for J Lo and her infamous dress were, Google created Image search.
“So our co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin – like all other successful inventors – kept iterating,” Schmidt continued. “After all, people wanted more than just text. This first became apparent after the 2000 Grammy Awards, where Jennifer Lopez wore a green dress that, well, caught the world’s attention. At the time, it was the most popular search query we had ever seen. But we had no sure-fire way of getting users exactly what they wanted: JLo wearing that dress. Google Image Search was born.”
Thus, an iconic dress and consequential technology – dare I say daily necessity – was born.
