Since I started off this blog by saying that I liked Wordpress better than Blogger, I figured I’d share my thoughts about some other Google products that I have been using.
Picasa / PicasaWeb
One of my favorites. I mainly use flavors of Macs but I still think Picasa wins over iPhoto. Maybe not functionality-wise, but the usability is amazing. And the integration with PicasaWeb makes it my personal de facto picture-management tool.
+ Usability
+ Seamless integration with online counterpart (250MB free, $25/year for 6GB as of today)
+ Google’s bandwidth for sharing your pictures
+ No limit on picture size
- Nested folders: What if one wants to have a folder “Travel” and then “France 2006″ in it?
- Editing IPTC tags
Gmail
It took me a while to actually like Gmail and now I can’t think of going back. I used to use Pine as it was really fast for managing a huge amount of e-mails but Gmail is available everywhere you can find a browser. At first, I really needed my folders, so I tagged everything accordingly. But you can’t have nested tags so I quickly gave up on that approach. It takes a bit of mental commitment at first but don’t try to organize your e-mails, let Gmail do it! Now I archive everything and search my mail just like I search the web when I need something. It works. Just a drastic change from what I used to do. I’m a lot more productive now. Once you master the shortcuts, you can very quickly go on a reply-to spree.
+ Accessible anywhere, no need to install anything
+ Great shortcuts
+ Never waste time thinking about which folder an e-mail belongs to.
+ Contacts integration is really good
- Existing e-mails import is not built-in. There are workarounds but it’s not seamless.
- Detaching e-mails from threads is not possible. If you have an e-mail with a generic title, you may see a thread cluttered with irrelevant e-mails.
- Attaching multiple files is cumbersome, you have to do it one by one.
- I want to be able to sync up my contacts list with my Palm!
Google Calendar
Being a Mac person, it would take a lot to steer me away from iCal. But Google Calendar has it all! My favorite feature? Sharing my calendar(s) with others. This is great for organizing outings. I think evite’s days are numbered and boy did I love that service. The interface is extremely intuitive and snappy, and calendars can be imported into iCal for hardcore Mac users.
+ Online, accessible anywhere
+ SMS reminders. I don’t always have access to my e-mail but reminders on my cell phone, now that’s useful!
+ Sharing feature
+ Google Maps integration, very nice when you plan to go to a restaurant with friends below Houston Street for example 
+ Interface - Has anyone been able to go back to Outlook or Notes?
- Synchronization with my Palm maybe
Writely
Finally a product that some love and some laugh at: Writely.
It’s true, it’s the poor man’s version of Microsoft Word. But first, for most users, how often does one need all of Word’s features? Unless you’re a writer, in which case you’re probably using FrameMaker anyways, the answer is: rarely. For the past two years, I forced myself not to launch Word unless I knew I needed it. I would use Wordpad on Windows or TextEdit on Mac. Both these programs can create RTF documents which are good enough for my needs. My documents are smaller and I know I can read them anywere, even if I don’t have a Word installed. I can even “strings” them if necessary.
RTF documents can be imported into Writely also.
All in all, even though Writely most certainly doesn’t measure up to Word (yet?), it is free, always accessible and collaboration is a breeze, so thumbs up.
+ Free
+ Sufficient for most people
+ Online collaboration
+ Import/Export in many formats
Upcoming: Google Maps, Google Base, Google Finance, Google Spreadsheets