Is it a clever move, or just deception, that Google has not announced Google Calendar, and yet it’s been discovered by the blogosphere. That way, any bugs, glitches, or issues, aren’t an issue, because it’s not even officially released?
Monthly Archives: April 2006
Google launched its calendar today. If you can call it a launch; not officially announcement that I’ve seen so far.
I stumbled across if when I picked up a Digg feed this morning. I pinged Cameron and when we had a chat we talked about it on G’day World.
After using it for a few hours I’m a big fan. Firstly, I’ve been looking for an easy way to set up a calendar that I can share with my wife, and other ways to share across time zones. Google does that simply.
Secondly, it’s simple. It makes it easy to add events–even with simple phrases–and I can subscribe using my Mac’s iCal client.
Thirdly, I can subscribe to other public calendars, whether they are events, or personal. That will be the killer app. In fact, I think it’ll drag people into using Gmail. When users start sending calendar events to people they know, I think it’ll draw people to use the calendar, and by repercussion, the Gmail integration.
It’s funny. Google services remind me of the excitement I felt in the hay day of the browser wars. I’d always get excited and install the latest release. It’s similar, I got excited and spend a good hour or so playing and setting up the calendar.
I can’t wait to see the mash-ups and ways people use it within online communities.
I chatted with Kath Walters from BRW the other day. She quoted me in this last weeks magazine, in her article, "Information explosion."
A Perth technology consultant, Richard Giles, says RSS software can do much more than feed selected content. It can learn about people and how long they spend on various sites, and offer suggestions for other content that might interest them.
I can’t point you to the article online, because their online version requires payment. The general gist discussed the need for publishers to learn how to engage readers, protect loyalty, and generate revenue online.
If you’re intrigued which services are tracking attention to web pages and RSS feeds, then check Attensa and Root Markets.
