Google Apps Are No Gift to Small Biz

There is a bit too much Googling goin' on.

Last week, mondo software giant Google (GOOG Quote) announced that its online-only suite of word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software, Google Apps, would step off of the Web and onto desktops around the globe.

The Mountain View, Calif., company is augmenting its family of office-productivity software by slowly releasing a version that runs offline -- that is, when your computer is not connected to the Web -- over the next several weeks. (Download the Google Gears app here, (http://gears.google.com/), then wait for a prompt to appear in your version of Google Docs, probably within a week or so.) The service, like all Google Apps products, is free to start; more robust versions cost $50 per user, per year.

That may not sound exactly revolutionary, but trust me: Google Apps moving off the Web is a big, big deal. First, taking the product offline removes a major barrier to entry for many small businesses. Google Apps in its current form is slick and all, but 24/7 Web access is by no means a gimme here on planet small biz. Locking up your digital life in a place where you can't always find it is downright terrifying. (When you can't get online, you can't get to your stuff. Until now.) ...