Google releases live online presentation tool
Posted 2 October 2007 at 8:40AM by Simon Dickson in Doing business online
There are few words I hate in the technology world more than webinar: an agonising portmanteau word combining 'web' and 'seminar'. It looks wrong, and it sounds wrong. But you're going to start hearing it a lot more, largely thanks to Google.
Google Docs has been around for a little while now: essentially, it's Google's attempt to create a web-based version of the standard Office software suite. Like most other Google tools it's free to use, and assuming you've already signed up for one Google service or another, it should only be a click away: look for a 'Documents' link in the top left corner of your Gmail screen, for example. Google's online suite includes a pretty good word processor, a reasonable spreadsheet, and in the last week or so, a new presentation package.
If you've ever used PowerPoint, you'll be on very familiar territory. But within a few minutes, you'll start spotting its deficiencies. In Google's defence, they have a fine tradition of adding new functionality on a frequent basis. But it's a bit of a shock to note that whilst you can import PowerPoint files, you can't export in PowerPoint format. And if bullet-points are your weapon of choice, you'll be disappointed at the rather clunky formatting. It can do the basics reasonably well, but if you're anything like a 'power user' of PowerPoint, you'll feel shortchanged (except, of course, that you didn't pay for it in the first place).
But straight comparisons with PowerPoint would be missing the point. By far the most significant element of this new product is its online functionality. When you create a new slideshow, it has its own public URL which you can share with colleagues and contacts. As people access the slideshow, they appear in an instant-messaging window on the right-hand side of the screen - allowing you to talk people through your slides, or take questions from the audience. It's text-only for now, but since Google Talk also allows for voice communication, don't be surprised to see audio being added in due course. In the meantime, there's no reason why you couldn't use it alongside your existing conference-call tools as a way to enliven (or certainly synchronise) multi-site meetings, sales pitches or distance-learning.
All of which just leaves us time to point to another new (and very cute) video by the guys at Common Craft, explaining the power of Google Docs through the media of scraps of paper, marker pens and a few bits of string. Yes, we know we're giving them free advertising here. But it just goes to prove that 'viral' works.
Tags: chat, google, instant messaging, office, powerpoint, slideshows
New feature: Rate this post!
Average rating: 2.3/5
