Google Launches Web 2.0 Tool of the Future

As Web 2.0 tools start creeping into the mainstream, online giant Google is moving quickly to wake everyone up to the new world order. Microsoft is no longer the only software on the block.

On April 17th, Google announced it is launching an online suite of Google docs, spreadsheets and presentation software to compete directly with Microsoft Office Suite.

Google’s new suite of Web based presentation tools are being hyped as the fully integrated work flow software of the future. Some features are the ability to share, store, collaborate and present a document from anywhere in the world. And best of all… it’s free! According to the Official Google Blog, the software will be up and running by summer 2007:

“Now students, writers, teachers, organizers, and, well, just about everyone who uses a computer can look forward to having real-time, web-based collaboration across even more common business document formats.”

It’s my belief that software that enables multiple user collaboration will surely be the wave of the future as old software is reborn for the new Web 2.0 savvy internet user.

For consumers this means free collaborative software, beyond wiki’s and blogs, that can be integrated right into their email homepage (if you are a gmail user). It could also be the beginning of a trend toward all software becoming Internet enabled, on-demand and open source friendly.

As more collaborative software pushes itself into the marketplace, Microsoft is surely thinking of how it can fend off these challenges to its dominant position in the business document industry.

Adweek Press

My new position at Schneider Associates received a little press from Adweek.

Check it out.

IMC Definition

Here is a definition of Integrated Marketing Communication from About.com

Definition: A management concept that is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified force, rather than permitting each to work in isolation.