I Heart Google

I don't really like relying on products from one company. Throwing your eggs in one basket is a pretty big risk and often comes back to bite you in the ass. The other day I realised that I've started to do exactly this with Google products. My first introduction to Google was obviously through their search engine, but I'm now almost completely reliant on Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Reader, Google Documents, YouTube, Google Maps and so on and so forth. Is there anything left that Google can't do?

Despite my resistance to allowing one company to monopolize my life, I'm actually OK with this one. Google just makes better products than everyone else. It's a fact. Gmail revolutionized email, Google search engine completely changed how everyone uses the internet and now they're in the process of revolutionizing how you use the internet (with Google Chrome), mobile devices (with Android) and TV (with Google TV).

This week Google's Developers Conference, Google I/O, was held in San Fransisco where they introduced some new products and some upgrades to established products. I won't speak at any length about the upgrades to Android because that's one area where Google has yet to reel me in, although I suspect I will give in at some point, but instead I will talk briefly about Google TV.

Not too long ago I talked about how much 3D sucks and how companies jump on stupid fads without any thought as to what consumers really want and are asking for. Thankfully there are companies like Google out there that make an active and aggressive attempt at listening to users and (most importantly) implementing the suggested changes. Google TV as you would expect, combines TV and the internet. This isn't the first time it's been done, but my guess is that we're about to witness the first time that it's been done right. From the brief glimpses that I've had of Google TV it will integrate your TV's program guide with the internet. You'll be able to do things like continue watching your TV show while using Google search to quickly find your favourite TV shows, search the internet or search your TV. You can those use the Home screen to store links to your favourite shows, channels as well as YouTube, Gmail or any other sites that you would normally bookmark on your computer.

See? What did I say? Finally someone is integrating the internet and TV into something useful. Leave it to Google to go things right! Man, I love Google.