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Thursday Apr 26, 2007
Googleized
It's become fashionable to criticise Google for spreading itself too thinly and not concentrating solely on its core search product. While its revenues continue to soar and its share price goes up and up, the naysayers reckon too much diversification could be the company's downfall.
But perhaps Google are playing a longer game than they are sometimes given credit for. They now offer office software, for example, (including a new powerpoint-type product) that means you can run your life on Google products. None of the applications are as sophisticated as those offered by Microsoft, but in some respects the functionality is better and, more importantly, they are free.
The ease with which Google applications can be stuck together is also useful. Tom Smith has used Google Page Creator (yet another new tool) to build a website for a small running club that combines a blog, calendar, information pages and discussion. The interfaces are so user-friendly that the site, built in a day, can be maintained by club members with no previous technical experience.
You might dislike Google's growing dominance. You might prefer to see Microsoft's hegemony overthrown rather than replaced. But it's hard to deny that Google is making great products that are opening up access to the web and, in general, making life easier. So what if they're getting rich on the way?
Posted by Tom Green ( 11:25 AM ) Link to this post Comments[0]