So many Google products, so little time

Over the past year, Google has rolled out countless new products. I've played around with a few of them, some of which I've grown to really appreciate. Most, though, I haven't done much with. How about you? If you really want to geek out on this subject, take this poll at Google Blogoscoped.

Google Calendar has definitely wowed me the most. I've never encountered calendar software that is as efficient and easy to use. You just click the day in which you want to enter an event, and a popup (pictured at right) appears, prompting you to enter your information. You don't need to go through a cumbersome process of selecting the event time from a list -- you can just type in the time and the event name, and Google Calendar creates it for you. It also lets you share events with other Google Calendar users, which makes it an especially handy way to coordinate events with a significant other. My girlfriend and I have used it extensively to keep track of our social goings-on. It's like Outlook, only for your non-work life. And much easier to use.

Google Notebook is another pretty nifty service. As Google describes it, with Google Notebook "you can browse, clip, and organize information from across the web in a single online location that's accessible from any computer." I've found it to be an easy way to take notes for blog posts. If a web page catches my interest, I can stash it away in my Google Notebook, perhaps adding a few ideas for a blog post. Like del.icio.us and the Bloglines "Keep New" function, Google Notebook enables quick web browsing by "remembering" interesting things for you -- so you don't have to. We'll see more such externalizations of memory in the future.

Tags: Google