I love the Google Labs concept. It’s a place where all the fun stuff Google developers create end up, before they get an actual launch or just get canned. Surfing the Google Labs website is fun itself, and I try to do it on a regular basis just to get a little insight in how the folks at Google think.
One of the great products in Labs is Google Reader, in my opinion the most competent online RSS feed reader there is. I’ve used it for quite some time, and it’s just great. Not the slow clunky piece of work it was from the start at all, Google Reader is getting better and better.
And suddenly a link to Google Reader wound up in Gmail, at the top where you’ve got your shortcuts to Calendar, Documents and so on. Adding Reader to the fray is a great move, but it’s still stuck in Labs (check out the telling logo if you doubt me). Why is that?
What is in store for Google Reader? Either Google is planning to move it out of Labs soon, but why add the link to Gmail now if that’s the case? Or they are adding the link to see how many users will adopt it at its current state before seriously considering moving Reader out of Labs to a real release…? I don’t know, but I love me some Google Reader so get to the point already!
Originally posted on April 12, 2007 @ 2:47 am
But, isn’t this something that Google has been doing? Gmail has been beta for a few years now with no sign of them changing that.