http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122826503489174369.html
"Among the projects whose future is uncertain are Google Notebook, a site for storing and taking notes on Web pages, and Google Audio Indexing...." etc. |
GAUDI is an experimental product that has no value in itself.
But the technology of audio indexing is, IMHO, a high priority for Google. It will probably be used in the background of the Universal Search, and not as a stand-alone product. Seriously, it's a very strategic technology behind this lab feature... who really care about "what the politicians are saying"? People want to know what Britney said and from a normal search on google.com.
For Notebook, it's obvious that they have to change completely their strategy since Chrome/Gears releases and the extended development of Docs.
I also doubt that collaboration is important in the information gathering: from my experience with Docs, most people hate working together on a draft, and it's even worst for notes.
Google can still release a new "notebook" add-on for Chrome that works offline and has a cool importation feature for Docs and more. But a 3rd party can make a good one too. If Google "owns" the user in the doc, they don't have to get them in the prior stage. On the other hand, I think Google will "owns" our bookmarks with their own add-on... it's too important for Web History and their understanding of users' online behavior. |
Took me some seconds to realize this is not about Google Gears :) http://gears.google.com |
