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Essential Tools for the Web

March 23, 2008 // 4 Comments  // Add yours »

Lately I've been advocating that my friends sign up for the many free services and tools that Google offers.  In case you haven't heard this from me yet, here's a list of things that should try out NOW:

  1. Gmail - With over 6 gigs of storage you'll never delete an email again.  It's fast, clean, and easy to use.  AIM is built right into it.  It allows you to send & receive mail from your old email accounts preventing you from having to tell everyone about your new address.  I have no doubt that it's the best email service out there.   
  2. Google Talk - Google's instant messaging client.  Automatically displays all your contacts and notifies you when you have a new email.  The nice thing about it is all of your conversations are logged into your gmail account, so if you're trying to remember an address or a bit of information that somebody mentioned to you once, you can just review the convo in your email.  It also allows you to easily call your contact and send voicemails.  It's quicker and easier to use than AIM.  I honestly wish everyone would just switch over.
  3. Google Reader - An incredible way to take every website you'll ever want to visit and put it all in one place.  As soon as a website that you like (such as seanhenri.com) posts something new, you're instantly notified in google reader.  No more need to skip from website to website to see what's new.  It's like an Inbox for the web.  If you have no idea what I'm taking about, I'd recommend checking out my post about RSS feeds.  Should explain things a bit.  The really cool thing about google reader is that you can share interesting content with your friends almost instantly.  Sharing is caring.  To see what I've shared, click here.  It's addictive.  You'll see.
  4. Google Calendar - Self explanatory.  Another great way to share and collaborate.
  5. Google Docs - Come on!
  6. Google Maps - Don't use MapQuest.
  7. Google Profiles - It's like a business card for everything you do within google.  Use it to identify yourself when leaving business reviews in Google Maps, or for all the content you'll be sharing with your contacts in Google Reader.

There's more, but try these out first.  In my opinion these are the essentials for anyone daring to call themselves a web-savvy individual.  Test them out and you'll be hooked.  Let me know what you think, and don't hesitate to let me know if you have more to add to the list.

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Comments:

Mindy: 

I stand by this completely. Sean Henri for President.

Posted on: Mar 23, 2008 11:26:30 PM

Randy: 

Are you changing your name to Sean Google Henri?

Posted on: Mar 24, 2008 11:06:32 PM

Sean Google Henri: 

For the right price... Until then I'll just continue recommend it to my friends.

Posted on: Mar 25, 2008 11:13:24 AM

Colin Morris: 

Do you, like me, wake up angry in the middle of the night sometimes, cursing Google for not paying us commission for the number of people we convert by spreading the Good Gospel?*

Sometimes people argue, as when I posted about Google Maps' utter pwnage of Mapquest.

(Your blog apparently doesn't allow HTML comments, so here's the URL...)

http://www.colinmorris.net/2007/12/problem-with-branding-success-google.html


Also, I recommend GrandCentral, although it might need a few more weeks in the beta oven to be hiccup-free.

http://www.colinmorris.net/2008/03/grandcentral-quite-possibly-coolest.html


Basically, you reserve one 10-digit phone number in virtually any U.S. area code and never have to give out a different one again, since it can be forwarded to any other 10-digit U.S. number. Lose your cell phone? Forward your calls somewhere else.

Awesome.

You and I are of strikingly similar minds.

*Tried and failed to make a good pun with "Google."

Posted on: Mar 29, 2008 12:55:06 PM

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