Things to do while you're waiting for Microsoft Word to start...

A comment by Jan in the studio this week piqued the trail of thought that led here.  

He said - 'I hate it when clients send Word docs these days'.  'If they do, I just open them directly in GoogleDocs from the email - it's quicker than waiting for Word to start'.

For those that don't know what's being said here - Google's 'docs', a cloud-based equivilent to Microsoft's Office suite, makes life easier.  For everyone.

I've become a fan of the way that Google has a tendency to surprise and please, rather than annoy.  Here's my tech good/bad list:

• Nokia - in the morgue - lost the smartphone battle in under a year.
• Blackberry - in the ambulance - losing the smartphone battle, I'd give them a year.
• Microsoft - in a galaxy far far away - beginning to lose the OS battle and lost the smartphone battle before it started.
• Apple - marooned on the Death Star - latest development: iPhones won't let you photograph or record at gigs.  Not nice.
• Facebook - did anyone say Friends Reunited?  Did anyone say MySpace?  Did anyone say users are falling?
• Google - quietly wandering around transforming the world - android, chrome, chrome OS

So, given Jan's comment, I went for a little wander through 'Google-Space' to see what's new. Here is a small collection of my G-spots:

• Chromium OS.  Yes, you don't need a Chromebook to try this new operating system out.  It's open source and lots of people have brewed up versions of it for you to try.  Apparently the hot favourite is produced by a 17 year old from Manchester who operates under the moniker 'Hexxah'.  Download it and pop it on a USB stick.  You can then boot your Mac or PC up with an revolutionary new OS without touching your hard drive.

• App Inventor.  This bit of kit allows you to create 'apps' for Android phones. Not by writing code, but by dragging puzzle pieces together. You can create very sophisticated software using all the phone's features (GPS, accelerometer, screen gestures). So far so good.  But they've just added support for Lego Mindstorm. Yes - your children can now create apps for Android that allow them to control their toys via Bluetooth. 

• GoogleDocs.  It is hard to stay ahead of what is happening with Google's alternative to fussy old 'Office'. They roll out new features on an almost constant basis and, of course, you never get left behind because (it's cloud-based remember) new stuff just arrives the next time you start it up. The latest killer twist to this story?  They're about to roll out offline documents.  This means that the final barrier - working when you don't have a connection - just vaporised.

• Google body. If you go down to the labs tonight, you're in for a big surprise. No seriously.  Go to Google labs and check out Google body.  Does for your innards what Google maps did for the planet. In less than 5 minutes you'll have a better idea of what's going on in there than a lifetime of biology lessons could ever provide.

Some people (Katscan to be specific), think that my Google favouritism will all end in tears when they (inevitably he tells me) reveal their dark inner core. Well, I'm a person who's always been for the journey, not the destination.  And this journey is fine by me.