The Triangle

Issue date: 6/25/04 Section: Sci-Tech

Media Credit: The Triangle

As the Internet grows by leaps and bounds, it is important to have effective means of indexing and searching this ever growing marvel of communication. Google is, without question, the first stop for a large percentage of internet-savvy computer users. A simple, clean and fast interface, coupled with one of the most advanced data aggregation systems ever developed, has Google playing a commanding role in the Internet experience. Google was recently placed at the top of Wired Magazine's 40 most influential technology companies, and the reasons go beyond simple searching.

As a privately held company, Google has always been consumer friendly. Google is not the least bit shy about allowing users to integrate Google's search algorithms into their own sites. Google employees are also among the most pampered in the industry, with free health-conscious lunches and on-site massage therapy. However, many are concerned about Google's approaching IPO. The fear is that a well-to-do company like Google could end up an evil empire (as some might call it) like Microsoft when it becomes a publicly held and traded company.

In this transitional time, Google has begun beta testing a new service that will expand its already robust offering - Google News (news.google.com), Froogle (www.froogle.com), et cetera.

The Google service that has received almost as much press and public attention as the approaching IPO, and has even ignited a stir in the California Senate, is of course Google's upcoming e-mail offering - GMail (gmail.google.com).

The GMail premise was announced on April 1, 2004 and was, at the time, rumored to be a devilish April Fool's Prank - two months later, the GMail service is being beta tested by a select group of invites. I was lucky enough to receive an invitation from a fellow blogger from the UK, and have been using the service since early May.

The GMail service itself has amazing potential, but in this simple beta phase, presents nothing earth-shattering, though it does offer some intriguing variations on conventional e-mail methodology.

Google is offering an industry-leading 1GB of mail storage to all users. There are other web-based e-mail services that offer more, but none with the name recognition qualities of Google. GMail is designed to compete with other large outfits like Microsoft's Hotmail (www.hotmail.com) and Yahoo! Mail (mail.yahoo.com), and at that level maintains some competitive edge.

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