Improve it's navigation and combination of services. While I can get to anything I use with google within a couple of clicks it could do a better job of providing better navigation and integrating it's many services into gmail. Integrate reader, rss feeds and google news directly into gmail. Since I started using reader I've always wondered why reader is not integrated into gmail better. More and more I'm beginning to wonder why google news isn't integrated either. I recently setup my local newspaper to deliver me the news I want delivered right into my reader. So it begs the question if I can setup my own local newspaper into reader why can't google integrate reader and the news into gmail.
Recently I started using friendfeed and I have discovered so many meaningful sites using it I wonder why Google just doesn't buy friendfeed and integrate it into gmail. That would go a long way towards transforming gmail into a truly powerful social productivity platform.
Now that we've turned gmail into a social platform by integrating the above mentioned items what about integrating blogger functionality and controls right into gmail.
Facebook has developed most of the features I'm describing already. Except one big piece of the puzzle. Facebook needs better productivity apps. Google has a really nice set of productivity apps and they keep getting more polished and refined every year. After google develops gmail as described above they need to integrate there apps into gmail. To Google's credit they have begun this process with the recent announcement of the updated pdf viewer into gmail.
It appears to me that google needs to make the decision to integrate igoogle, orkut, reader, and google news
into gmail and stop developing them into stand alone sites / apps with the possible exception of google news. Sometimes simpler is better.
I realize redeveloping gmail into a swiss army knife of productivity and social networking would require a lot of reworking but by diverting the resources from igoogle,orkut and reader they could develop the new gmail rather quickly.
Post your comments and let me know what you think.
