Web’s Best 50 Free Downloads – Features – PC Authority

“…top 50 downloads – from apps that are measured in kilobytes to the Google Pack’s 200MB – all of which are guaranteed performers. We’ve covered a wide range of applications, including everything from browser add-ons, security software, music packages right through to Photoshop alternatives.”

Further thoughts: #1 on this list is Google Pack - But step back for a larger context, you’d easily see  why Bill Gates a few years ago pronounced the web as the worst threat to Microsoft. And we’re there.  Just picture this combination:
(a) $400 ultra-light notebooks built on on Intel’s Atom processor (HP, and Acer’s forthcoming Aspire) with 4-8 hour battery power.
(b) free web storage space
(c) Application suites like Google Pack to replace your Microsoft Office. Free.

Now let’s take two steps forward: Where will this go?  I can make a really good guess just looking at my Google phone.  Its Android platform gives me a larger library of powerful apps, free and fast.  The near-instantaneous access to info makes web access truly seamless with my daily life. Yes, It does change how I think and do things.  Here’s five easy examples.

(1) I may be at a Barnes & Noble, simply click on the “Compare Everywhere” icon with my thumb,  take a snap scan of the barcode  and find that I can save $10  (and $10 on each of three other books I want), then I click up Amazon to order the books.
(2) Streaming media are steadily displacing the need for physical media like disks. Negative: In the car, my kids ask for my phone to watch You Tube, instead of their Nintendo or the dvd player .
(3) Parking at a new airport in Indianapolis I thumb on “ParkFree” and the built-in GPS has marked my spot as I run to catch a flight; one less thing to remember after a week out of the country.
(4) I Google my client’s site to refresh on the company, and get a routing to their address with a satellite image superimposed on the map.
(5) I call up a streaming weather map to see if the storm  will hit the New York airports, and click on yet another program to check on my connecting flight’s real-time status.

google g-1, downloads

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This entry was posted Monday, March 23rd, 2009 at 10:50 am and is filed under Simply Handy. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.