We all tend to spend much of our time criticizing technology, and picking on vendors, be they large or small. Heck, my most recent post on this blog addresses how Google Mail / Google Toolbar tracks which links you click on in your email messages.
Nonetheless, it’s nice to occasionally be delighted by smart little features that a company has added to its product without any fanfare, something that just makes sense, just works, and makes you smile.
Tonight this moment of delight was brought to me by the Google Calendar team, of all thing, when I opened up my calendar in my browser, having altered the timezone on my computer clock to reflect that I wasn’t in my home timezone (Mountain time) but rather in Pacific time.
Here’s what it said:

It may not seem like much, but the attention to detail that is demonstrated in this simple feature is delightful and why Google, like Apple before it, is winning in its market. It’s not about spending more, it’s not even about being faster, it’s about paying attention to the gestalt of the user experience.
Great job, Google Calendar team!