April 11, 2008

Google Launching ToDo List Product?

Michael Arrington

102 comments »

TechCrunch reader Nicolas Hoizey noticed a blog post on the official Google Docs Blog today written by Andrew Cheng, a Google Marketing Manager. Hoizey sent us the NetNewsWire screen shot above (click for large view).

The post, based on the screen shot, appears to be a simple to do list. But the post was removed from the blog and the feed, and that means it’s time for conspiracy theories to blossom.

It is certainly reasonable to assume Google would consider launching a simple to-do list product to complement its office suite, and would post about the new product on the official blog. One reason to remove the post - they may have simply posted too early and pulled it down because the product wasn’t ready to launch.

But the post itself is literally nothing more than a list of things to do over the weekend. No additional features or functionality, or any description of the product, is mentioned in the post.

So maybe Google is doing it, maybe they aren’t. Or maybe Hoizey just had a little fun with photoshop this evening and sent over the results of his work. Can anyone out there confirm that this post was published?

We wrote a post comparing various to do list applications back in 2006, and added to it in 2007. But really, how much can really be done to create an even better way of creating a list, organizing it, and removing finished items? Perhaps this is yet another niche market that Google intends to dominate, and I’m not sure anyone will really care.

Update: Nevermind.

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Trackbacks/Pings (Trackback URL)

  1. Productive Firefox - Firefox Productivity Tools » Blog Archive » Google To Do List Imminent?
  2. gokubi.com » Blog Archive » Google todo lists
  3. Web Worker Daily » Archive Will Google Launch a Task Manager? «
  4. TechCrunch Japanese アーカイブ » Google、ToDoリスト・アプリを準備中?
  5. Google To Do?
  6. Stop the presses! Google may be onto something! « blog.jemm.net
  7. Blogging Madness Powered By TechCrunch And The End of Google To-Do List | B.E.T.A. Daily
  8. To Do « Keep Within the Lines
  9. Google Still To-do Listless [Google] » Lifehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done
  10. Google Still To-do Listless [Google] · TechBlogger
  11. ZOHO is wining Google « Mcneri’s Weblog
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  13. Map oF City Wide Wi-Fi - Google To Do List - Flock - Free Line Report 4.17.08
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  15. Google takes aim at 37 Signals! : Texas Startup Blog

Comments

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  1. Hobbes

    Good God! A To Do list!

    That’s what I like about Google… always innovating.

  2. foo

    I need this… I keep my to-do list by emailing it back to myself in GMail :(

  3. Chris Cera

    I’ve been using rmilk.com for the last several years and have been very happy with it. I always wondered if Google would acquire them …. still hopeful.

  4. Michael Arrington

    i still write things down on a piece of paper. works for me.

  5. Sam Mathews

    I, and most of the guys at UGAME use googles ToDo list on the google desktop APP. Maybe its some progression on that?

    What I’ve been dying for is better synching off this todo list between my computers, but also available online in case I wanted to check it from anywhere.

    But tbh the beauty of the product is its simplicity :D, I don’t bother with the outlook todo list simply cause its to much work to maintain your list through it, isnt the point of a todo list to maximise your efficiency?! I dont want to be waisting time preparing it.

  6. moe

    You can do it through google sites too. Call me old fashion but I still use tadalist

  7. yongfook

    I recommend a sleek Moleskine notebook.

    I’ve tried numerous todo list solutions (including one I made myself, which is still out there online, and still has people using it…) but frankly I don’t see the point. Task list creation is inherently a more organic process than you can emulate on a computer - you can *try*, with your sub-tasks-of-task functionality and your email reminders and your add-task-via-mobile feature and whatnot, but by the time you’ve faffed around setting all that up (after forgetting your login info and having to reset your password, of course) you might as well have just scribbled it down into a notebook in 10 seconds, leaving you more time to, you know, actually get your tasks done.

  8. CouchTycoon

    We wanted to acquire them too. But unfortunately they declined our offer.
    Now I´m using paper again ;)

    We also thought, that google could be interested in rmilk. Maybe they don´t like bob?!

  9. Neil

    OMG, and now ToDo lists, too?! Does it never end?! Just don’t tell the 37Signals guys…

    On a more serious note; I’d love an app which actions items, or changes their status, upon receipt of a response from an email contact. Maybe Gmail and ‘GooToDo’ could make this a reality.

  10. 113.com

    There’s huge need for todo-list kind of service as a product (or whatever x-as-as-y cliche).. If from Google.. would be very successful… cf. Gmail. Applause!

  11. Binaryday

    @Michale

    You seem to be missing the point here. It is not about google creating a to-do list. It is about google’s now obvious strategy of backward integration.

    Google already controls the front gate of the internet super mall i.e traffic. It knows what all products sell well i.e the popularity of different sites. And now it is gradually replacing those stores with stores of its own.

    I was expecting you to be more critical of this move of google.

  12. Toon

    And the 37 signals guys who no doubt is convinced they invented the whole concept of a todo-list will start bitching about this in 3… 2…. 1….

  13. Em

    The post should have been published. It is indexed by Google Search. Here you can see the proof: http://www.fxcomponents.com/te.....dolist.gif

  14. Alasdair Allan

    Or he could have just accidentally sent his to do list for that weekend to the wrong email address (or something similar) and ended up with a blog post?

    Never ascribe to malice, that which can be explained by incompetence…

  15. web hosting

    I think this model could have been worked well if launched earlier, it is too late now.

  16. Randy

    I confirm that I still have this blog post in my Google Reader. The screenshot is NOT PhotoShop’ed.

  17. Peter Bland

    Call me old fashioned by I keep a ‘to do’ list on my desk on paper.

  18. Michael Arrington

    BinaryDay - you’re right! Google MUST BE STOPPED. Sure, its just to-do lists today. But tomorrow, who knows? I get shivers just thinking about it.

  19. Dan

    The post has been removed simply because someone from Google accidentally posted a personal document. They use Google Docs to write blog posts and other documents, so it’s easy to explain the mistake. That document doesn’t look like a blog post and doesn’t deserve any attention.

  20. Andy

    I have GTDInbox for Gmail, a Firefox addon that provides task management for my inbox. It’s not really a to do list - I use it alongside RememberTheMilk - but it makes a huge difference to how I use Gmail.

    And you do realize that Google Task List has been rumored several times before earlier in the year? (e.g. http://voyagerfan5761.blogspot.....-list.html) Some Google blogs even said they had screenshots.

  21. socialmd

    Doesn’t anyone use the to-do list feature on their phones?. If you do, is there a need to maintain one more on a website.

  22. Chris Cagle

    Could it have been talking about this Google App Engine example? http://to-done.appspot.com/

  23. fcuk G

    My first, last and only item on my Google To Do list would be:

    FCUK Google (very urgent.)

  24. Dave

    Google actually announced their intention of adding a to-do list into Google Calendar last fall. This was posted in the Google Calendar Group:

    Google Calendar Guide Google employee
    Oct 12 2007, 12:44 pm
    From: Google Calendar Guide
    Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2007 17:44:24 -0000
    Local: Fri, Oct 12 2007 12:44 pm
    Subject: Re: Petition for a ToDo List

    Hey everyone - thanks for the loud and very clear feedback on your
    desire for a to-do/task list feature. We’re pretty passionate about to-
    do lists here as well, and we’ve got something in the works. Of
    course, we’re working to add our special Google secret sauce to the to-
    do lists space (which can take some time to get right,) so we don’t
    have something to announce just yet, but the entire team is listening
    to these threads closely.

    Please be patient - we’ll have more to talk about soon.

  25. Steve

    There have been rumors about Google adding a to-do list into Gmail which would make a lot more sense than having a standalone product. For now, at least we have the Remember the Milk plugin for Firefox that works just fine.

  26. Dupré

    A to do list is the no.1 power tool for any start up CEO. Period.

  27. FZ

    As ToDos go, I highly recommend: http://www.toodledo.com/

    Much better and more complete then “Remember the Milk”, which I’ve also used. Toodledo already has integration with Gmail, Firefox and Mobiles.

    As for the usefullness of tools such as these, although it may seem simple, they can be a very nice tool to manage work within a small team. SO, I guess it does make sense to invest on it.

  28. Jono

    Michael Arrington - ditto. We used to joke saying “google is the internet”. The scary thing is that it is becoming fact and their analytical data coupled with their audience makes them almost impossible to compete with when they decide to branch into new markets.

    Everyone is happy, until it is the market in which they operate.

  29. Sidharth

    I had read the blog post but did not find it important enough to take a screenshot

  30. Mike

    I’ve drunk the Google Kool-Aid. Sign me up.

    I trust them to make a list with check boxes (and potentially date fields) better than anyone else … and of course integrate it with all other Google-ized aspects of my online life. Hurry up Big G!

  31. Jim McNelis

    i use Remember the Milk and integrate it with my gmail via firefox. it works. it would be nice to have this fully integrated, and a part of the Google Apps Suite.

  32. Web Browsers

    Hey Guys,

    I’m using ToDoList from http://www.abstractspoon.com/ and it’s amazing.

    Trust me.

  33. Bill Campbell

    I read that post last night on the Google blog. It was about 7:00 cst. I thought it was odd when i read it.

  34. Peter Forth

    There’s a lot of good to do lists out there already…maybe they should just buy one.

    The site I like is http://www.taskanyone.com because they allow me to assign tasks to other people and then nag them until they finish them.

  35. Dan Kimerling

    If they can integrate it tightly, across docs, gmail, calendar, and then mac it go offline with gears, then it might be a game changer. But, vaporware is always a concern…

  36. YouYap.com

    Looks good to me. Keep it comming.

  37. elvirs

    ToDoList Product? is it a product? may be Google Docs is product or Gmail is product but is a simple todo list app is not a product. It is a basic script of few hundred lines of code. If Google is the producer it does not mean a shitty app is a ‘PRODUCT’.

  38. pat

    really want to see to-do lists in gcal as well as better to-do gadgets in igoogle. will someone create a simple to-do “table” that includes basic math functions without the baggage of a full spreadsheet? this should be so easy but somehow it hasn’t happened yet …

  39. Nate

    I’m with mike on this…. With all of the sticky note applications and online to-do list applications, i still find it far more efficient to write my to-do lists down on a legal pad….

  40. GC

    That’s funny I thought Google already had a ‘To Do List’ application….it’s called Google Notebook and I’ve been using it for my to do lists for ages.

  41. Vincent Nicolai

    This post was added to http://www.tectrnd.com!

    set your own trnd!

    best regards

  42. Jaafer Haidar

    Wow, people are debating a to-do list?!?! Some of you guys need to get off the computer and get outside.

    I’m with you Mike, my notepad works great.

  43. Peter

    I love Google Notebook, but I’ve been hoping for a true task list that integrates with Google Calendar, which I’ve been using everyday for the last two years.

  44. Search Engine Optimization Journal

    is would be a good idea if we can integrate it somehow with Gmail and its other applications… we shall see!

  45. JimmyZ

    I use pen and paper. I’m not always around a computer when I want to make a to-do list. Somehow, I don’t have the desire to forget how to write in my own hand.

  46. Jeff O'Hara

    I use remember the milk with a firefox plugin that integrates into gmail. Works well, this is for my long term todo lists, still use a text file or pen & paper for quick todo lists. I see why google wants and integrated todo list. Wish they would have just bought remember the milk.

    -Jeff
    http://edmodo.com

  47. Wes

    The funny thing is, Google will have no advertisers left if they continue to try and be everything to everyone. They have completely lost focus and it is only a matter of time before this starts to negatively effect thier market share. It simply is not good business sense to compete with your paying customers.

  48. Peter Cooper

    With the incredible pace of Google’s work on their To Do list service, they might work their way up to building an e-mail system and maybe a search engine next. Oh.. wait.

    Is Google the only company that developed their biggest, most lucrative product first, but then effectively stopped doing anything useful to it in order to focus on trivialities that make no money? Even Microsoft has the argument that they’ve kept on “improving” Windows year on year.

  49. Arrr Tard

    For all you guys that use normal sticky notes for your task lists… good for you. For those of us who have co-workers that share and delegate work, the Google To Do List is the best thing possible! Our entire company operates using the big 3 (GCal Gmail and docs). If we could get a nice shared task list we wouldn’t to make ghetto documents of things we’re working on or send stared emails to ourselves to keep track of what is going on in our business. We’ve all been begging for a Task list for the last 5 years only to be let down by Google notebook. We just want a tool that takes features from all the tools of today and puts check boxes to the left of whatever comes out of the mix.

  50. Alexander Muse

    OMG! They better check with Jason and the guys at 37 Signals since they had the idea of To-Lists first: http://www.tadalist.com/

    It would be embarrassing if they had to take it down as well after Jason complains.

  51. Son Nguyen

    My TODO list is written on post-it notes because it’s accessible and much easier to manage. I spent too much time with the computer already and anything to get away from it is good.

  52. Mike

    BUG #12982: roast chicken is not a veggie. :)

  53. Jordan Glasner

    It looks like the pulled post was a draft of the following:
    http://googleblog.blogspot.com.....etter.html

    G added the ability to share gadgets.

  54. engtech

    They should scrap this and buy RememberTheMilk. Cheaper and better than building their own.

  55. xxdesmus

    I am relatively content with Gmail + RTM integration. Anything I can do NOT have to go to the RTM website is a plus because the web UI for RTM is horrendous.

  56. Teresa Valdez Klein

    IMHO, a great to-do list product would allow me to manage my Getting Things Done (GTD) system — based on the book by David Allen — by identifying next actions and allowing me to categorize actions by both project and context, just like Kinkless GTD does.

  57. Rooneydog

    What we see is just a simple first step, I hope, to a to do list that can pull names or phone numbers from Gmail’s (woeful) contacts, sync when appropriate to the Google calendar, and perhaps someday make phone calls via Grand Central. Actually, what I really want is a call sheet, not a to do list. For those of us who spend our days making and returning calls, that would be a godsend.

  58. Eric

    Just looks like a desktop RSS feed application to me, which would be great if it was cross platform. I hate depending on a browser based RSS/feed reader so i don’t use Google Reader(tried n loved previously though) i now use Akregator, a Linux KDE desktop feed application that I prefer over Google Reader without a 2nd thought. So hey, GOOGLE, yea u, lol, make a cross platform feed reading, To-Do list/Note taker, Calender application all-in-one that synchronizes with our Google account that we can move to any com, download the app, and just “sync” from our Google account Feed List to be the best of the market and kick some ass.

    Thanks and Bye :)

  59. vrsc

    Online stickies lino. Manage your tasks (to-do), share your idea with your friends, collect photos from everyone who attended a party, and whatever you want to do!

    http://linoit.com/

  60. J. Jeffryes

    I use Google Notebook and Google Desktop ToDo as my ToDo lists. A Google app that would bind to Gmail, Google Calendar, and Notebook would be very, very useful. Especially if it allowed me to create and share ToDos across a team, and see when those ToDos were finished.

    It can go way beyond a simple ToDo, and become a full team management tool.

    BTW, isn’t there already something like this on Google Sites.

  61. Eric

    Remember the Milk offers a really great extension that integrates their To-Do list with Gmail. I can imagine Google offering an almost identical official feature - and kind of wonder why they haven’t. It’s a relatively simple think and kind of a missing feature if they’re trying to compete with Outlook.

    Unfortunately for Remember the Milk, I really don’t see a to-do list as a standalone company/product. It really is the kind of thing that’s better as a feature of something else.

  62. matt mcknight

    This is just the new shared stickies iGoogle gadget, not a todo list app.

  63. Andrew Chang

    Hoizey was correct. He saw my accidental post onto the Google Docs blog yesterday. I’ve explained what happened here: http://googledocs.blogspot.com.....-easy.html My bad.

  64. TS

    torbensauer.blogspot.com

  65. Phil

    So — now that Mr. Chang has explained this story away, shouldn’t you guys update the post?

    Maybe a new title: “BREAKING: Google Marketing Manager posts grocery list, tofu acquisition imminent?”

  66. Mike Koss

    The major productivity pieces missing for GMail users are:

    - ToDo list
    - Notes (lightweight memos)

    The ability to share (or delegate) ToDo’s between users would be a new killer feature. RememberTheMilk doesn’t really get this right (they have shared task lists, but are missing the “accept/reject” step that is critical for even a light weight team-based to-do list management). It’s also not integrated well with your email/inbox/dashboard.

  67. Gary C

    Google can’t release such an application, because 37Signals already has a simple “To Do” list called “Ta-da List”. Jason Fried might get pissed if Google releases such a product.

  68. Tim Howell

    As many people have said, even capturing to do lists on paper works for most people. The thing is, writing things down - or noting them on a website - won’t help you get things done. You need to be reminded and pushed to do things, especially if you’re working with other people.

    ActionThis has been designed to drive tasks through to completion, both for individuals and teams. It has a great free website, and if you use Outlook and Office, there are a bunch of add-ins you can use so you don’t have to switch back and forth between applications - you can use the tools you use everyday. Have a look at http://www.actionthis.com.

  69. Adam Hughes

    Wait til’ you see Producteev.com!

  70. Rollo

    This was obviously just a personal list posted in error, as #19 pointed out hours and hours before Andrew Chang confirmed it.

    How did no one else see this? What a bunch of dupes.

  71. Firefox Fan

    I think they should buy Remember the milk. It perfectly fits into google products and is amazing in use. One of most useful apps on internet imho.

  72. Harry S

    The people who think Google should buy RTM don’t understand the logic behind aquisitions in the web space. The big guys like Google and Yahoo will normally only buy a company because they have market share/loyalty (i.e. sheer numbers and momentum).

    RTM has half a million users which is tiny in Googles world. And Google would never buy RTM to get their hands on the application itself. They could build something similar in very quick time. Google is a standalone giant in the world of AJAX and their javascript libraries will be far superior to anything 1 smart young Australian can write.

    Lastly, any product Google develops will need to fully integrate with their suite of services (esp calandar and gmail). So they’d have to start again anyway.

    If you like RTM, stay loyal to it and don’t keep calling for Google to aquire it!

  73. Richard

    No, no…what you want is a good offline todo list :) Some things still work better on the desktop: http://www.tudumo.com

  74. Anders Fredriksson

    The problem that most todo-list services almost always tend to miss is that they are supposed to help you get stuff done, and not be an extra step in your doing process, which almost always only add more stress than it increases your productivity.

    If you’re interested in this space, have a lookout for rmindr.com which will be launching after the summer.

    //Anders

  75. watch tv

    Google releases such a product.

  76. frames

    I think they should buy Remember the milk.

  77. Corey

    To do lists are important but does one really need a full board application with 100+ features to replace a piece of paper? (Rhetorical)

  78. Torley

    I’m a big fan of Google Desktop’s Todo gadget, in large part because it’s *so* simple-to-use in the sidebar and very responsive. I enjoy being able to reorder items and hide completed ones — *essential* features!

    Of course, I wish there was the ability to create categories that can be collapsed/expanded — right now, I manually put a word in square brackets like “[WORK]” in front of the todo. But, I wouldn’t want such an elegant utility to be overburdened by features I’ll never use.

  79. James

    I’m not convinsed on web-based todo list apps (rtm, todoist…). I gues Im still not a fine for jumping into a web browser for everything. For mac I’ve started using Dejumble.com. Its still in beta but I read somewhere that they plan to have mobile device syncronization. This is a biggy for me, if I can have an easy and fast todo list app on my desktop as well as on the road I’m happy. TaskPaper is alright as well, however I am moveing more and more toward Dejumble.

  80. Wade

    I would welcome a To-Do list in Google repetoire, as I am getting more tied into their services. Now if they’d only do a personal wiki.

  81. Thomas P

    There were rumors around http://www.copperproject.com a while back, but it is php based and doesn’t look anything like this.

  82. Thomas P

    There were rumors they were talking to the http://www.copperproject.com folks at one point, but that’s php based and doesn’t look anything like this.

  83. Dan Graham

    Didn’t anyone else notice what was lying on Matt Cutt’s desk next to his computer underneath his cat??? A todo list, ON PAPER! Despite the fact that Google is known for releasing their apps internally first, I don’t think it necessarily means anything.

    Maybe Matt just thinks Google’s isn’t as good as paper?

  84. lion HR

    Maybe its just me, but I found it useful. http://www.lionhrsolutions.co.uk

    Peter
    Managing Director

  85. lion HR

    Forgot. Thomas P had a look at yours….I would try it out..hehe
    http://www.lionhr.com

  86. Dave

    The bottom line is that Gmail/Google Apps wants to compete with Outlook. Tasks are something they need to build in to get there and makes total logical sense.

  87. Ryan

    There are way too many to do lists already. I think http://www.zotodo.com is the best personally… but there are others. Point is I think it’s silly for Google to make a to do list as there are already some really great to do lists like the one I just mentioned and others too.