I think Marc Orchant has it right, the newly announced Google Notebook could be seen as a del.icio.us competitor–as Michael Arrington points out–but it also can be viewed as a direct aim at “information capture tools like Onfolio (recently acquired by Microsoft), EverNote, and Microsoft Office OneNote.”
I will say though, that after looking at the leaked Google Notebook screenshots I was a bit underwhelmed. Nonetheless, I see huge potential here. Why? Because Google Notebook can leverage Google’s expertise in storing, indexing, and searching information–key elements of a great digital notebook. Google Notebook has just enough of a different DNA going for it, that this could be the beginning of something amazingly new and exciting.
The question I see here is: For information repository-style apps, does a DNA focused on the cloud trump ones focused on the UI? In today’s trends towards mobility and ownership of multiple devices, I think it does.
In fact, with the right API, imagine how EverNote, Onfolio, or OneNote could leverage Google Notebook as storage and search options? Would Google ever allow this? I don’t know. It’s akin to the battle over whether companies should open their IM pipelines. Up to this point, some do, some don’t–and given enough time and competition even this list oscillates back and forth.
Oh, how I hope there is a developer story in all of this.
I agree, it’s pretty squarely aimed at OnFolio in the sense that it’s hard to aim at delicious without aiming at OnFolio 😉 I’ve posted a bit on my blog (my name is linked to it above) about the relevance of Notebook to the enterprise – my thinking is that this functionality will be very quickly brought to Google Desktop Search (&Toolbar) and the enterprise search box. Not sure EverNote and OneNote need to worry yet, as they handle a lot more than just online content.
RE: your ideas about storage, you’re basically talking about reliable internet sync of local note data? Amazon S3 or others could already be used for this but yeah, they don’t have the advantage of being hooked directly into most users’ search engine of choice. I’m sure google will allow API access to add notes (the more content in their system, the better!) but I doubt MS et al will be chosing them as the store. They’re more likely to directly copy this feature in OnFolio and Live Search 😉
Loren:
I’m coming to believe that you’re right – much as I love an elegant UI, it does nothing for me when I’m accessing online content on My Treo or (as I am at the moment) using my Treo to connect my Tablet PC to the net for a quick mail and RSS check. The faster a page loads or an item of information can be retreived the better.
Yes, the Notebook screenshots are a bit underwhelming but as I’ve learned with Gmail and GCal, first appearances are often deceiving with the Google apps and refinements are sure to continue showing up as intial user feedback is generated.
When (if) this data is sync’ed into the local Google Desktop cloud as well as living in the online Google account, we’ll be looking at a pretty unique hybridization of clip data.
Steve’s point is well taken that OneNote and EverNote do a lot more than Notebook. The comparison was a bit of a stretch for people who really leverage the ink, voice, video, and other advanced features of those apps. But on a pure info capture comparison, Notebook looks like it just might be “good enough” for many people.
–Marc
Steve, yeah, I’m extrapolating here. I’m taking huge guesses as to what might appear someday in Google Notebook.
I hope it becomes more than a clipping service. Maybe that’s all it will ever be–if so, Google will miss out on this round.
I concur with the opinions its aimed at Onfolio etc and I also think this is just the beginning. Like a lot of google products, they release the core elements first and the build up over time.
I like the reliability of knowing I can store my notes online and am not limited to just one machine.
Michael @ SEOG
I agree. There is a better product out for online clipping called Clipmarks. I am surprised Google did not try to acquire it. I have been using it since Dec 2005 and find it is really well done. http://www.clipmarks.com