Categories: Articles

Google Gears – You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?

Google Gears. If you use Google Reader, please stop reading this Blog post and head over to get your hands on Google Gears.
What is Google Gears? Simple. You can now read the last 2000 most recent posts even when you’re offline. By hitting the Google Gears button, you download the last 2000 posts that you can read, mark as read, etc_ and when you’re back online, Google Gears will sync you up.
Why is this huge news for Marketers? It’s two-fold.
One, this is another step for Google to get more control over the desktop from Microsoft. It may seem subtle, but the ramifications and applications are endless. For example, imagine if you could use Google Gears for Google Docs & Spreadsheets? There would be less of a need to grab Microsoft Office. But that example is not as powerful as the ability for you to browse and shop online (even if you’re offline) and when you’re back and connected for the purchase to be completed.
Imagine sifting through online databases (catalogs, news sites, etc_) without a connection.
I know you would think that this functionality already existed (and, it has, in various forms, but never as pervasive and powerful as this). Google is on a rampage to dominate the connection between users and their information. Take a look at their acquisition of Feedburner. Google allows you to Blog via Blogger, create and manage your feed through Feedburner, read and aggregate other content through Google Reader and now, with Google Gears, the ability to leverage this content even if you are not online.
Bottom line, I am extremely excited about Google Gears and my mind has been wandering for the past few hours about the many cool applications and improvements this will mean to the online experience.
I’m sure I will be ranting more about it on the upcoming episode of Six Pixels Of Separation – The Twist Image Podcast (episode #54 should be live this coming Sunday).
You can read more about Google Gears over here:
– InformationWeek – Why Google Gears Is Good News, Bad News For Microsoft.
Get it here: Google Gears.

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.