Tim Howell’s Weblog

With the release of version 1.0 of Google Desktop, the activity in this space has calmed in recent weeks, however a recent Washington Post round-up of desktop tools created a bit of a stir.

In the article, the writer stated: “These programs also shouldn’t exist: Their capabilities should be built into the operating system, something both Microsoft and Apple are working on.”

Several watchers agreed with the assessment, believing this is core functionality which should be part of the operating system. While I can see where they’re coming from, I also believe that regardless of what Microsoft or Apple, or whoever else, may do, there is always room for innovation.

While it’s inevitable improved search capabilities will appear, the existing desktop search companies will hopefully be able to add value around the fringes, by either incrementally improving the search capabilities, or presenting search results in different ways.

With the ever expanding web, and the significant growth of personal hard drives and corporate stores, there is significant opportunity to search, retrieve and present information in new ways. Afterall, we’re no longer going to be dealing with tens, or hundreds or thousands of documents – in the years to come we’ll be dealing in the millions, billions and trillions, if we’re not already there…