Maybe Google Post-Its would also have been a nice name, but I guess that would involve some legal issues. When I first heard about Google Notebook, I thought it was some kind of Google Desktop or Google Pack software for my notebook. You know, what used to be called a laptop. But no, Google Notebook is an application that lets you store information online. Kind of like electronic memo pages/post-its, with the advantage that you can copy text.

Google Notebook is a product from Google Labs and it seems news got out a bit too soon. The search option is not working yet. With Google Notebook, you install a browser plugin for IE6+ or Firefox 1.5+ (no Safari/Opera yet). Once installed, the plugin lets you copy data/URL info to your own collection of notes. These notes are kept on a Google server (include obligatory remark about Google-related privacy risks here) and you can view and manage them there. Notes can be private or public, and they can be categorized in a number of notebooks.

I only logged in and messed around with a couple of notes so far, to get a general feeling about the product. Apart from the privacy issues, I can see how this might be useful. Especially to someone who uses a lot of different computers (as long as those are online). A student visiting different institutional libraries to do some research could store notes this way, without having to write them down, or download all kinds of references (if at all possible). I may use this some more over time, at work, to see if this can indeed be helpful when researching materials online. I don't think I will put it good use in my everyday personal surfing, but who knows. It is still a new service, after all, and sometimes I only see the point of something after it has been around for a while.