Scoble discusses the blogspace speculation on Google’s plans. Here are my guesses:
gMessenger – Google Branded Instant Messaging. They’re late into the fray on this, so I could see them putting together a pretty decent IM client, building on the successes of others. Targeted ads based on content…
gDocs – Online Document Collaboration and Delivery. Imagine if you could log into _ANY_ computer, go to a website, and work on documents, spreadsheets, presentations. No floppies to carry, or even USB keys, and no pricey licenses. Just a username and password. WYSIWYG, decent print output, etc. Targeted ads based on content of course (they need people to get used to this idea with gMail first).
gBrowser – Maybe later… I think everything that Google does in the near term will rely on other browsers. They’re going to hit a wall with functionality at some point, and that may be when they decide to bring out their own browser. Basically, they’d be saying: You can use gmail/gdocs/etc. with any browser you want, but if you use the gbrowser, you’ll also get better printing, advanced collaboration, etc.
Google could really make some waves in the industry over the next decade. Imagine if they produced a complete set of alternatives to the Microsoft Office suite, and all were web-based, available anywhere, they-handle-the-backups solutions.
Just my 2 cents…
One Man Shouting 