In the past, I've commented on Google and their mastery of search engine technology. Yes, there are folks out there that get angry anytime an entity or product gains enormous market share, but all said, Google has been and currently is the mother of all search engines. Work with me here...
However, as we use them to google a recipe, to find an online spice shop or the best price on a Canali tie, they're down in the lab conjuring up a series of applications designed to be your one stop shop for all your productivity needs.
As described by Wikipedia (another fave of mine) "Google Apps is a service from Google for using custom domain names with several Google products. It features several Web applications with similar functionality to traditional office suites, including: Gmail, Google Calendar, Talk, Docs and Sites. The Standard Edition is free and offers the same amount of storage as regular Gmail accounts. The Premier Edition, which offers 25 GB of e-mail storage, is 50 USD, 40 EUR, or 25 GBP, per year, per account. The Education Edition, which is free, combines features from the Standard and Premier editions."
At first glance I wondered if the business development team at Google has a solid strategy for bringing the same success to their applications platform as they did with their initial search engine product. It's clear that they're poised to be a major player in the Cloud Computing space (along side EMC, IBM and other less heavy firms), but they have so much more to offer than just a paradigm shift in the way we think about data centers. In fact, I could see them targeting schools and universities as a platform for student productivity. You do that and you have a generation poised to move into the workforce with a new view of what computing is. The computer is insignificant. It's a browser anywhere on any piece of equipment designed to support a browser.
Your desktop is in the cloud.
Your desktop is...Google.
*Note: I do not have any financial connection to Google.