Microsoft has been an invaluable asset to Google in its effort to brand itself, “as Air.” There’s no doubt who the “Don’t Be Evil” mantra refers to. And it doesn’t hurt that Steve Ballmer looks a little like Dick Cheney.

In contrast, Google wants to be Air. Who doesn’t like Air? It’s ubiquitous, transparent, essential, benign. Branding as Air, like “Don’t Be Evil,” preempts anyone who would dare question Google’s strategic innocence.

“Sure, we read your mail,” sayeth G-gle, “we asketh your permission, you opteth in.”

And Google’s network of hundreds of thousands of servers is an impenetrable Fort Knox data fortress, right? “They hold all my files, my calendar, my email, my data, my life – and safely,” right? Right?

Wrong.

No Ann Arbor employees were harmed in the making of this horror film – only Google employees hired before 1/1/06 were effected. And the effects will be the same as countless other data breaches/thefts at other institutions.

Google is human after all. Now we can all exhale.

This may be a blessing in disguise: it’s tough to be Air. It’s easy to be human.