This came up last week on the WCTM NewsTalk 580 radio show with Ron Jolly — we were discussing Google Apps. Microsoft-Office-like applications you can run from a web browser, without loading any software on your PC or workstation. Free for personal use, $50 per user per year for business use (which has increased storage limits).

The biggest negatives are that you have to be on the web to use your software, and the documents you create are kept on the Google servers, not your PC. (That part makes the whole idea a non-starter for many businesses.)

But it is an intriguing concept, and something that has bounced around the IT world for a long time: “SaaS” (or “Software as a Service”). You don’t buy software, you buy a subscription to use it. It is basically the idea behind the Microsoft “Live” offering, which is still in the beginning phases.

And the entire idea is a great one for students, especially college students.

Click here for the Google site to sign up or get more info on Google Apps

Other thoughts from Wired magazine and ZDNet