Google mystery barges

Josh Voorhees has a Slate article about some barges, no longer quite as mysterious:

Google finally brought an end to the mounting speculation about what it plans to do with a pair of mysterious barges that have been spotted off America's coasts. The good news? The tech giant isn't planning to invade. The bad news? The answer isn't all that exciting. From the sounds of it, the four-story structures on deck will serve as little more than glorified showrooms for Google products. Here's the statement a company spokesperson provided to TechCrunch this afternoon:

The Google Barge… A floating data center? A wild party boat? A barge housing the last remaining dinosaur? Sadly, none of the above. Although it’s still early days, and things may change, we’re exploring using the barge as an interactive space where people can learn about new technology.

The barges— one in San Francisco Bay, the other off the coast of Maine— were first spotted late last month, prompting something of a bureaucratic treasure hunt by enterprising reporters hoping to solve the mystery. A few geeky inside jokes on the ship's registration forms eventually led the media to Google. From there, speculation centered on the possibility that the company was planning on using the oddly-shaped structures as floating data centers (a guess that was based in part on a company patent from 2009). Looking back, of course, the real purpose of the barges— publicity— seems obvious.

Rico says he likes the 'wild party boat' idea...