Google goes Software plus Services

[image from CW]

I double checked before I posted this given the article was dated April 1st but it’s validated on Google’s own blog in Bringing the cloud with you. So now Google is part of the Software plus Services world we’ve been espousing for some time. That’s okay, we’re happy to have them catch up :)

"Cloud computing is great, but you need the cloud to make it work. On an aeroplane, on the shuttle commuting to work, or at home when my cable modem goes down, I want to work on my documents. And, until now, that usually meant saving a copy and editing on the desktop," said Philip Tucker, software engineer at Google Docs.

No kidding Google – we’re right with you. What irks me is people will say “ohh, look at Google innovating”. You’re in good company though guys as Steve Jobs went down the same route.

Comments

• Anonymous
  April 02, 2008
  You're a bit deluded if you think that Google making their Docs available offline is the same thing as Microsoft's S+S push. Everything online requires at least a browser or some other locally installed app to access it, so therefore everything is S+S by your definition.

• Anonymous
  April 03, 2008
  you misunderstand what we mean by S+S then Stuart - the notion being that you take advantage of the local capability of a device aswell as the cloud rather than simply using a browser to access all data in the cloud. you're right, taken absolutely, all internet applications are S+S but it's the subtle difference between SaaS and S+S I'm pointing out here. Salesforce have quietly gone down the same route with their offline client, Apple did the same with Google Maps on the iPhone. It's the extreme positions people take with these new eras that make me laugh - the view that everything will just be done in the cloud is what I believe is deluded

• Anonymous
  April 03, 2008
  Isn't this more a case of services plus software than the other way round?

• Anonymous
  April 03, 2008
  Good point Jon, Google's strategy is to put everything in the cloud and then enable you to access it offline. Whereas Microsoft want everything running on your desktop with some supporting services in the cloud. That's fine because that suits Microsoft's main revenues (Vista/Office) - after all they are a software company, not an internet company.

• Anonymous
  April 12, 2008
  I know the table above is really, really simple, but I wanted to start the ball rolling – I have been