We all know what Google is and use it daily without a thought. But do you know about the additional tools/apps that Google offers?
I would like to invite you to the world of Google.
The main reason I like the tools that Google offers is that it allows me to centralize my content into one place - the internet. My calendar, e-mail and contacts, pictures and even documents are all located on the internet and independent of which PC I'm on. Whether I'm at work, at a friend's PC - my information is not bound to one location. In case of a disaster like a failed hard-drive or a lost laptop, my data is safe! Even better, I can share my work and collaborate with others. Google offers an amazingly easy-on-the-eyes and an incredibly intuitive interface. Its also
available in many languages!
So let's get started and let me take you out of the old and into the new...
Still using AIM or Yahoo-IM? Get Google talk! Its simply great. No adds or junk all over the place, simple pleasant interface, non-intrusive design and yes, you can even talk to your AIM clients through it. Just take a look at the screen-shot - its quite easy on the eyes and simple in design like everything that Google does.
What else does it offer? How about calls to other users like on Skype and even video-chat! It also links in with your Google e-mail account.
Google mail or Gmail is the first tool I used from Google. Its simply awesome - nothing beats Gmail. Again, simple in design and intuitive interface. Sort your emails by
tags, not folders. In short, you tag an email so it can belong to few groups like Shopping, Computers, Friends, instead of just one folder with the old method. Gmail also offers you tons of storage space (constantly increasing), you can change the look with Themes, it includes Google-talk, groups your e-mails by conversation and more. Have your own domain? You can let Gmail take over and use Gmail instead but with your own domain name! If you don't have a g-mail account - GET ONE NOW! Seriously... if you wanna be my friend... ;-)
The Google calendar finally allowed me to centralize my organization and planning to one place. You can create multiple calendars (work, personal, school), share with others or have someone else's calendar integrated, have it email or pop up reminders, subscribe to sports, special calendars like weather or a nation's holidays and much more. One of the ways I use it is to record all payments I've made, customer representatives I talked to over the phone (like banks, or your cable company). This way I have a record I can always refer to as to when I made a payment, its confirmation number or which representative I talked to when they promised me something and didn't deliver. Google calendar is a very powerful application.
I began using Google Docs when I was going to school. I needed a place to take notes, do papers and not have to email them back and forth or hope I didn't forget my USB drive for an important presentation. With Google Docs, probably my favorite App of all of Google's Apps, I'm able to organize my notes per subject, add colorful highlights etc, and easily take notes since I can type faster than I write (or I can cut-and-paste even faster!) Recently I helped a friend do some translating and I simply shared the document with him and he was able to collaborate with me and make modifications - no need to email back and forth. He emailed me the document and I was able to open it up right inside of Google Docs. Even simple things I need to write down go in Google Docs - its a notebook I will never loose! Google Docs also allows you to create spread-sheets, presentations and forms. Another powerful application.
Want to share your photos with friends? Forget about e-mailing them. Simply create a Picasa album and send your friends a link. Save the internet some bandwidth and reduce the amount of work for yourself when sharing your photos.
iGoogle is your personal Google page. You can add various gadgets, organize by topic, and have all you need at your fingertips. Check it out!
There are other Apps that Google offers, but the ones I listed are some of my favorites and most people aren't aware of them. We all know Google and Google Maps, but we may not know about Google Docs or Google Finance.
What makes it all so great is that Google doesn't flood your screen with adds or other junk. The interface is extremely intuitive and easy to use. Once you start using the various Google Apps, you'll wonder how you did without them. Best of all, once you create your account, you will have access to all the other Apps with the same user and password. The various Apps also allow you to import your settings from other accounts as well. I'd suggest that you start by creating your e-mail account (most people use @gmail.com over @googlemail.com), then check out all the other features Google offers.
