Google Never Stops Creating - Betas
by
Randy Mears
I think that it is fitting that the Internet’s king of search seems to be on a continuous quest for new ways to enable us to put the Web to work. Remember when Google was just a search engine? In stark contrast to Google’s “salad days,” today Google is an Internet giant with a growing stable of Web-based services that are available to all of us, free of charge.
Because Google doesn’t depend on fanfare to introduce its new services to the Internet community, we sometimes barely notice when a new service appears. I clearly remember finding out about Google Maps from a friend. Not only was it a tour de force in Web-based maps, it also served as a ground breaking proof of concept for Ajax; one that all the world could see. So it is with Google; their new services seem to appear and gain momentum purely by word-of-mouth. Here is a short list of some free Google Services that most of us have heard of:
Each of them are worth a second look, but there are many more. One service that I recently heard about from one of my associates is Google Docs and Spreadsheets. I really like the collaborative capabilities, but I worry a little about the "Beta" designation, which seems to be understated in grey at the lower right of its "Google" title graphic.
That leads me to one of the questions that continues to nag me about Google. I love what they do and all, but I really wish I understood what they meant by "Beta." This is the best discussion that I have found on the topic so far.
