Yet another Google Labs product has made it into the real world; behold Google Notebook in its non-beta glory. The tool has gained the ability to “speak 17 other languages besides English,” but would-be users shouldn’t expect much in the way of additional improvements.
Xiangtian Dai, a software engineer at Google, announced the step forward. “We have German, Polish, Turkish – to name a few – and of course Chinese,” he wrote. “Rest assured . . . that just because your language isn’t one of the first doesn’t mean that we have forgotten you.” And everyone – even those of us who can only converse in English – should benefit from the new interface, which Dai describes as “much smoother to use than it was.”
Of course, Googlers may not be the most objective people when it comes to reviewing Google’s products, so it wouldn’t be surprising if Dai’s testimony failed to convince some readers. But he (sort of) has Garett Rogers’ support.
“[I]t has been nicely polished and finally looks like a finished product,” Rogers acknowledged on Googling Google.
“[I]t looks like something I could potentially find a use for,” he continued later in the post, “but I’m still not rushing to start using it on a regular basis.” Considering how many Google products fail outright, that still qualifies as comparatively high praise.
So if you’re a fan of Google Notebooks, rejoice, because it just got even better. If you’re not among the faithful, the newest upgrades probably won’t be enough to convert you. But Google’s trying, and as it does, the company is making more of an effort to reach a global audience.
