They say the first step to realizing you’re addicted to something is to admit you have an addiction. To recognize you may have a problem. So here I am, on this faithful Monday evening, confessing I have a healthy addiction to Google’s online products.

Let me explain.

Waaaaay back in the day, on April 1, 2004, when Google originally published their press release regarding Gmail, announcing the company was testing a preview release of their web-based email product I was ecstatic. The holy grail had arrived – Google, our saviour, to rescue us from the evil web-based email providers has surely devised a far superior product, right?

At the time, I was a long time opponent of web-based email. I despised how Microsoft, Yahoo! and others riddled their products with huge and obnoxious advertisements. Suddenly a new thrill was thrown down my spine at the thought of a new web-based email system which did not append “crap” to every email sent, nor were users disturbed with unwieldy advertising on every page.

It sounded like heaven so I sought out a mission to grab a Gmail account and be part of the “in crowd” at the time. I was lucky, got my account and the rest, as they say, is history. Ever since Gmail was released I have faithfully awaited Google to release new, useful web-based products which can be used to dislodge me from my local workstation and move me to the cloud. Each time Google released a new piece of the cloud puzzle, I was there to jump on top of the offering and adopt it like the fanboy I am.

First there was Gmail, then Google Reader, Google Calendar followed by Google Docs. For the most part I have been in seventh heaven (on a side note, why does it have to be the seventh? Something wrong with the fifth, sixth or eighth? I digress) with Google’s products. Even through all this delight there are still a couple items missing from Google’s cloud puzzle.

  • Google sorely needs a “Google Tasks” of sorts. I’m referring to a full-fledged task manager, similar to what you see in Microsoft Outlook. One that offers advanced features like tagging, reminders, reoccurring tasks, etc. Google Labs recently added the lightweight “tasks module” to Gmail but it is far too simple. It was designed to be just that – lightweight so it will unobtrusively fit in to the existing Gmail interface. Unfortunately, tasks does not have notifications or any type of power use; it is just a simple task lists and nothing else.
  • A “Google Dashboard” is really what I am after – an application which would solve a huge missing productivity shortfall. I envision Google Dashboard to be a single window whereby Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs and the uncoded, unreleased Google Tasks are married in to a single pane, ala Microsoft Outlook’s “Today” page. The goal would be to present users with a view of their world as Google knows it to be. This can be partially done in Gmail already, again through Google Labs, by adding the Google Docs and Google Calendar modules. But again, as with their tasks offering, it is far too simplistic and needs a lot of work. Google Dashboard, in my mind, would be designed specifically for people who are looking to migrate from Outlook and move in to the cloud – it is one missing piece of the business puzzle.

I really believe a Google Dashboard will help ease the migration from Outlook to Google’s cloud offerings, especially if they expect to move business to the cloud. Google’s products are just as polished, if not more so in many ways, than what Microsoft currently offers, but with the added benefit of being tied to the cloud. Yes, there are downfalls and I recognize the problems associated with moving business operations to the cloud. Either way, accessing your data from wherever you are is the wave of the future, a future which is just around the corner. Google is leading the charge with their productivity offerings and even the long-fabled Gdrive.

In true addict fashion, I can forgive Google for the time being. I realize they are busy making a million bazillion dollars and have to focus on their core competencies. But I am serious when I say Google Dashboard is a missing piece of the puzzle. This product will allow users to be more productive while retaining Google product “stickiness.”

It may not be the Holy Grail, but it sure is a start!