The number of Google Apps™ on the market keeps growing, just as the uses for them keep growing. Google Apps are what are termed "cloud apps". Cloud is just a new way to say "Internet" and, more than anything else, it's a marketing term. Internet-based applications provide ways for businesses to distribute the load placed on their own technological resources, however, and Google Apps are being used for that purpose more and more.
The Idea
Consider the market for software when the personal computer first became exceptionally popular in the 1990s. If you wanted a basic word processing program, you had to buy it. Spreadsheet programs were expensive, as well. Pretty much any improvement you wanted to add to your computer cost quite a bit of money. On top of that, the new software you installed ate up hard disk space and required that you used up system resources such as RAM and processor when you used it. Google Apps and other cloud apps provide a way around this.
Google Apps are hosted on their own servers. They include a simple word processor, a simple spreadsheet program and more. These programs allow businesses to have their easier tasks -- writing letters, creating documents and so forth -- done on these applications and eliminate the need for those businesses to spend money on software to perform those same tasks. For many businesses -- and even municipalities -- the Google Apps solution makes more sense because their employees never even use the advanced features on word processors and other programs.
With Google Apps, the companies also make use of cloud storage -- again, this just means storing things on the Internet instead of storing them locally -- which provides an extra layer of data security. The combination of all these various features has made Google Apps very popular with businesses.
Beyond the Office
Google Apps, of course, include more than office software. There are also instant messengers that allow businesses and individuals to communicate inexpensively and systems such as Google Books™ book search service, which allows individuals to search through a huge number of books to find specific information. There are programs such as Google Earth™ mapping service, which has been used by everyone from vacationers to archaeologists to find interesting spots to explore, and the Google Sky™ program, which allows amateur astronomers to get a look at the night sky.
This company has consistently been offering new applications to customers at no charge. Now, they are moving into the territory of another behemoth organization.
Google+
Google+ is the company's foray into social networking, following the much-maligned Google Buzz™ service. It has yet to become public, but there is a lot of talk about the system already. This will add another competitor to the world of social networking and means that Google will increase its reach still further into the digital marketplace.
Google Apps continue to evolve and, as they do, they continue to displace the offerings of other companies that have dominated the marketplace for software for decades, such as Microsoft and Apple.
The Idea
Consider the market for software when the personal computer first became exceptionally popular in the 1990s. If you wanted a basic word processing program, you had to buy it. Spreadsheet programs were expensive, as well. Pretty much any improvement you wanted to add to your computer cost quite a bit of money. On top of that, the new software you installed ate up hard disk space and required that you used up system resources such as RAM and processor when you used it. Google Apps and other cloud apps provide a way around this.
Google Apps are hosted on their own servers. They include a simple word processor, a simple spreadsheet program and more. These programs allow businesses to have their easier tasks -- writing letters, creating documents and so forth -- done on these applications and eliminate the need for those businesses to spend money on software to perform those same tasks. For many businesses -- and even municipalities -- the Google Apps solution makes more sense because their employees never even use the advanced features on word processors and other programs.
With Google Apps, the companies also make use of cloud storage -- again, this just means storing things on the Internet instead of storing them locally -- which provides an extra layer of data security. The combination of all these various features has made Google Apps very popular with businesses.
Beyond the Office
Google Apps, of course, include more than office software. There are also instant messengers that allow businesses and individuals to communicate inexpensively and systems such as Google Books™ book search service, which allows individuals to search through a huge number of books to find specific information. There are programs such as Google Earth™ mapping service, which has been used by everyone from vacationers to archaeologists to find interesting spots to explore, and the Google Sky™ program, which allows amateur astronomers to get a look at the night sky.
This company has consistently been offering new applications to customers at no charge. Now, they are moving into the territory of another behemoth organization.
Google+
Google+ is the company's foray into social networking, following the much-maligned Google Buzz™ service. It has yet to become public, but there is a lot of talk about the system already. This will add another competitor to the world of social networking and means that Google will increase its reach still further into the digital marketplace.
Google Apps continue to evolve and, as they do, they continue to displace the offerings of other companies that have dominated the marketplace for software for decades, such as Microsoft and Apple.
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