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Data is useful for large companies - especially when you want to make data-driven decisions.

- Can we stop dispensing USB cables in the vending machines?

- Should we deploy the new Macbook Pro without classic USB ports as the new standard?

- Do our conference rooms really still need USB presentation remotes? Does anyone actually use them?

Turns out it was important business information after all.

What's interesting is that I can see these logs as being a liability as well as an asset; there's a reason most business records retention policies are about getting rid of records, not keeping them. From that perspective it's surprisingly they'd reveal the level of logging in play.

It depends. If you have the ability to use the data, it's a real advantage. It's a flood of data that most folks can't handle.

For a company at Google's scale, figuring out how to cull even a couple TB a year may cost much more in salary than the money saved. Also, it's occasionally really really useful.