April 10th, 2007
Google aims to usurp campus email systems
What is missing from college campuses today? Google Apps Education Edition, of course! Not for long though, if the latest Google ambitions are fully realized.
Google is promoting Google Apps on campus directly to students themselves, not university administrators or IT managers, with the goal of building student demand for Google Apps, over university solutions.
After all, college students today are not merely students, they are education and technology “consumers.” A well educated (on Google technology) college consumer will undoubtedly make the right choice and opt for “College life, powered by Google”!:
“You spend your life dealing with information. A lot of it is academic, a lot more is personal, it all matters, and you can probably use better tools for handling it effectively,” Google tools.
Google is empowering college students to speak out on their satisfaction, or not, with their existing communications systems, university provided and hosted ones.
“More and more students are expecting that the applications they use for school have the same quality and ease-of-use as the applications they choose in their personal lives,” Google underscores. “At many campuses over 20% of the student body already forwards their student email to Gmail.”
Google aims to directly provide college students with the applications they expect, and deserve, Google hosted ones:
In asking students to talk about email use on campus, Google is engaging in an ambitious effort to better understand the email needs of college students and discover ways of improving the email and online collaboration experience.
In other words, Google is surveying college students online across campuses, hoping to make a (“student led”) case for why Google Apps Education Edition trumps universities’ own solutions:
How satisfied are you with your school's current email system, compared to other systems you've used (like your personal mail)?
What would you like to change about your school's current email system?
Can't get my mail from my mobile phone.
Not enough storage space, so I need to delete mail or files that I want to keep.
Tough to access when I'm not on campus or don't have my computer.
No IM or calendar functionality.
Slow to send or receive my mail.
What's the primary way that Gmail, Google Talk and Google Calendar could be better than your school's current systems?
Speed
Storage Capacity
Integrated Email, Calendar and IM Capabilities
Mobile Access
I would prefer to use Gmail, Google Talk and Google Calendar instead of my school's current systems?
Jeff Keltner, Google manager of collaboration products for education:
University students lead hectic lives and are ready for email that helps them better organize themselves and communicate with others. We're asking students to share their thoughts on campus email so we can help to make that experience even better.
How can Google make the campus email experience even better? By arming itself with completed pro-Google student survey data to present to university administrators and IT managers.
Such as:
Students are dissatisfied with university email systems and want them changed, big time, AND
Students want to have Gmail, Google Talk and Google Calendar, rather than university systems.
What is the simple solution to give students what they want? Google Apps Education Edition!
Gmail: Email at your current school address, plus built-in Google Search.
Google Talk: IM, share files and call your classmates for free through your computer.
Google Calendar: Coordinate class schedules and group projects. Publish calendars for sports teams and parties.
Google Dos and Spreadsheets: Collaborate on documents with classmates across campus in real-time. Access documents wherever there’s an internet connection.
Mobile: Check your email and calendar when you’re in between classes or on summer vacation—right from your phone.
“Better” Google Apps tools, for a “better” college education, “Google and schools, working together to unlock information and promote learning,” because:
Organizing the wealth of knowledge that lives inside academic institutions is critical to the Google mission.
What else is critical to the Google mission? Making money by serving AdWords to users of Google Apps Education Edition, non-student users.
Customer agrees that Google may serve advertisements (“Ads”) in connection with the Service to End Users who are not designated by Customer as enrolled students. Customer will update the status of its End Users on a regular basis but no less frequently than twice yearly. Customer may only designate End Users as enrolled students if the End User has registered for courses with Customer within the last twelve months. Customer agrees that any revenue generated by Google from the Ads or otherwise derived by Google from the Services will be retained by Google and will not be subject to any revenue sharing.
ALSO: Google News is NOT newspaper driven: Zell vs. Schmidt and Google blurs line between advertising and content, again and Google’s Ten Commandments
