What is so good about this again? Why do I want it?

The link is not working...:(

to much traffic, it will probably work soon.

What I think is that Google Calendar will become more of a centralized Microsoft Exchange Server so Gmail users can more efficiently check out each others schedules and make plans with each other.. This is a great idea!

The cool thing about MSFT Exchange is the Calander Function. The Bad thing abot Exchange is that my calander doesn't connect to my friends calender or other calenders of people working in other companies.

We need standards!

Hey Justin, if my Xchange calender connected to other calenders of a another comapnies --that would be mayham.....That would be fringing on what is called as industrial esponisage :)-

Ashman wrote:
"What is so good about this again? Why do I want it?"

For the same reason that people flock to Gmail: Online, always available, Web-based, fast access to your information. While applications like Outlook, Lotus Notes or Sunbird are excellent for office and even home users, the problem is that we do not always have access to our home or office PC, so the ability to manage an online calendar is enticing. Given Google's history, a calendar app would likely be done well.

To make it really effective, Google would need to provide some sort of sync module that would transparantly synchronize it with other calendaring clients. Once that's done, it'll be a hard application to beat.

Here's a replacement link for the screenshots, in case TechCrunch is down for you:
http://www.prntscrn.net/img.php?img=GoogleCL2.png

www.google.com/cl2

and after signin..

"The page you requested is invalid."

not ready (for all) yet....

sob

Jim: good answer

the event feature Tech Crunch wrote about really got my attention. being able to create a whole web page for a specific event that everyone could come to after sending out an email invite. from that web page you could see who has been invited/ attending, pics/ advertising for the event, and a long/ short write up. sort of like the badly coded MySpace.com's "event invitations." very cool concept. the only thing that saddened me was: "Based on feedback I am getting, CL2 is a long way away from launch."

Is it any clearer how tightly it will be linked with Gmail? I know that the interface is basically identical (as it is for all things Google) but the pics so far don't show this being actually in the inbox so to speak. I think this is a great shame. A seperate service to have to login to would be so less useful for me.

I havent read the TC blogpost (it is not loading) does it give any clues on this point?

Update – here's how the screens were apparently leaked:
http://www.valleywag.com/tech/techcrunch/yahoo-fed-google-secrets-to-techcrunch-159243.php

I cant seem to get this clear. Maybe it isn't known yet. But is this calendar going to be linked into Gmail like Chats are now? (i.e. a link in the column on the left) Or will it be a seperate service that is perhaps linked to Gmail via the Google Links tool we briefly saw.

Everyone is saying it is closely tied to Gmail, but actually embedded in? I hate waiting for the big JS pages (like Gmail) to load.

i doubt it will be *in* Gmail, it'll probably be a separate service. I don't really understand why people complain about how *everything* isn't integrated into Gmail – I'm with Sam, i don't want Gmail to become overcrowded. i hope by "closely tied with Gmail" they're referring to appearance and interoperability.

I personally hope that it //is// integrated into Gmail like Chat such that I could seamlessly and smoothly navigate from one to the other. The key from a design perspective is to maximize usability and productivity while minimizing clutter, bandwidth, and lag. Google developers aren't stupid--far from it. I'm confident that they'll provide a service that's clean and seamless.

COnsider this. I'm speculating, of course, but I think CL2 will be very intimately yet unobtrusively tied to Gmail. It has to be. It will be likely that the people who you want to schedule to attend events will typically be in your Gmail Contacts, so I'll wager that there'll be a tie-in to Gmail's Contacts from //within// CL2. And that's just one example that I can think of. Maybe it could go the other way too: I'm composing an email, and I want to "send an event" to a Contact. Provide a "hook" into CL2 from within Gmail, and it'd be a snap.

The underlying key, is to provide a UI that's clean, simple, and fast. Google has it in Gmail, and it has improved significantly since the horrible lag felt when Chat was first integrated.

I just wish I could get in on the beta!

I think that it should be integrated into Gmail in terms of actually embedding. When I said I hate waiting for big JS pages to load I really meant I dont want clicking through to the calendar to cause a new JS interface to load. I understand that having it permanently as a side option is going to make Gmail slower to load as general. But maybe if people don't use it they can disable it and get back to full speed.

Jim is right there is a lot of scope for real integration. Mail and social activities are not different spaces. There is significant overlap which could allow this cl2 to be a killer service.