Changing Way

Today’s big web news is the release of Google Apps Premier Edition (GAPE?). The Google Apps entry page tells us:

• What it is, including Gmail, Calendar, Docs & Spreadsheets (but not yet Presentations), all hosted by Google
• How it’s packaged for different markets: small business, enterprise, education, family/group.

Here are remarks from four “usual suspect” Web 2.0 bloggers.

• what sane small- or medium-sized business would still install Office/Exchange?
• Beyond competition and concerns, tonight is a good time to recognize the incredible force of innovation that Google is as well. Its nearly full-service suite of sophisticated, integrated online services is something of historic proportion. Google’s technological brilliance is only beginning to be recognized.
• I see it more as just another step for Google towards a full Office suite. There’s still no presentations app… Google Apps is still a fairly loose package of web-based office apps, not as integrated as it could be yet.
• Google Apps is missing some fundamental features… users are very demanding and have become accustomed to powerful, intuitive features in Microsoft Office.

So, what’s missing?

• The presentation app, but I’m sure that’ll be along soon.
• Google Reader. There are many Google services that could have been part of GAPE, but aren’t. Reader is, for me, the most prominent of these.
• Support for OpenID. Suspicious (but “open”) minds might take this as an implication that Google considers your Gmail address the only identity you’ll ever need.