Let me get this straight: Google Calendar is bigger than the second coming and GData flies under the radar? Hello? Is this thing on?!

Not that I don’t think Google Calendar is cool, but can we keep our priorities in order please? Let’s compare:
Google Calendar:
Yet another free calendar
GData:
1) A new way to exchange data (which is partially like RSS, partially like Atom, and completely certain to piss off both camps). (Wikipedia: RSS, Wikipedia: Atom, GData vs RSS vs Atom)
2) An API to integrate any Google service into an application. (Wikipedia: API)

I know: on the surface, the concepts of an API and of "a new protocol for data transfer" sound just about as sexy as Gilbert Gottfried in a Speedo, but let’s look at what it really means for us.

GData: The Beginning of the Next Era for Google

Google’s Past:

• Content search (google.com)
• Content creation (Blogger purchase)
• Autonomous specialized applications (GMail, Maps, Toolbar)
• Mashups (especially popular with Maps API) (Wikipedia: mashup)
• Application integration (GData)

Google’s Future:

• Platform

Moving Beyond Mashups

Many people have made fun tools using the Google Maps API for mashups. While this is a great start, it is only the beginning. With more ways to plug Google services into other applications, we move closer and closer to a new remote platform. Again, "remote platform": very dull language. Imagine this: start by imagining all the computerized data that you use: email, files, calendar dates, etc. Put all of that data somewhere you can access from anywhere. Finally, imagine:

• Programs that allow you to access all of your data from anywhere
• New desktop programs that that allow you to use your data better
• Ways to integrate your data

Tie maps to scheduled events in your calendar. Get emailed maps based on hotel reservations. Do other cool stuff I’m not creative enough to think of... The point is, the possibilities are so open, only time will be able to show us what is possible.

The Google Calendar Prom Queen vs. The GData Chess Club President

So why the blogger feeding-frenzy over Google Calendar, while GData has received so little love? First, Calendar has months of speculation and rumor-mill fodder prior to release. This kind of gossip is like crack to bloggers (who in this regard are largely like high-schoolers in older bodies).

Beyond the gossip factor though, there’s ease of comprehension. The mainstream press hasn’t picked up on GData like it has for Google Calendar because the concept and usefulness of a calendar are universal, while the concepts embodied in GData are abstract and techie, if not a bit obtuse.

Succeeding Where Microsoft Failed or The Past Repeating Itself?

It seems to me that I’ve seen most of this before in some incarnation from Microsoft. I’m not at all sure how GData is any different than when Microsoft tried to do the exact same thing with SSE. And at least Microsoft tried to nail down the concept of a single login with Passport, something Google is very guilty of.

Why is it that when Microsoft creates their own way to do something, they’re "not complying with standards", but when Google does it, they’re "innovative"?

This isn’t just me crying foul. Really, what is the difference? Google is doing something that consumers (and Wall Street) like. It used to be a David and Goliath thing but Google’s far too big for that analogy now. They are doing something right on the PR front that I can’t put my finger on. But whatever it is, marketers everywhere need to take note of this degree of success and try to emulate it.