When the history books are written on the dawn of the Internet age, Google (GOOG) way well be known as the little search engine that could. Google’s shares closed out Friday up 2.63% at $775.60, a record high for the company that also saw its total market cap balloon to more than $250 billion. Google still has a ways to go to catch rival Apple (AAPL), of course, which is still the most valuable tech company in the world with a market cap of around $425 billion. But if the company ever manages to, say, make a big hit out of self-driving cars then watch out.

Prior to joining BGR as News Editor, Brad Reed spent five years covering the wireless industry for Network World. His first smartphone was a BlackBerry but he has since become a loyal Android user.