To those of you who make use of it, Google Docs is one great service. I have been exploiting it ever since I started getting phobia from USB flash disks. My friends are so not aware of anything called a virus, and toss USB flash disks around from their personal desktops to laptops to public desktops without caring to even check if the pc is infected or to think about the number of people who have used the pc before them. 6 months ago, I decided that my life will have to go without sticking a USB flash disk in my laptop. The alternative? I am back to CDs when I need to hand some reports, or I use Google Docs to upload the file and then either download it from the recipient’s computer either share it with that recipient (if the technology of Google Docs has reached them). I have also been using Google Docs to keep some information online and available wherever I go and no matter what device I carry, as well as to keep yet another back-up of my thesis work.
The problem that I face daily is that Google Docs isn’t fully compatible with my S60 device. I can view text documents on the browser, but I can neither edit them nor copy/paste something I would use. And don’t get me started about the spreadsheet capability, because even the viewing mode doesn’t work well there!
After Google released some dedicated clients for S60 3rd Edition, and improved the way Gmail and Google home are handled on these handsets, a proper Google Docs implementation on Google Docs, be it through the browser or through an application, can’t come soon enough. This would bring a new level of usability to S60 because we are many to use Docs for one reason or another.
Plus with Google making Docs compatible with Google Gears as well as Google Gears going mobile (but not for S60 yet), this could allow us to use Google Docs offline on our mobiles and provide us with a great free always-on document viewer and editor. I realize this is a long step from becoming a reality, but if we put all the pieces together, they all hint at a better future.
