Google Docs looks like a versatile piece of software. I could see students using to prepare reports - each could be listed as a collaborator and contribute their section, and there would be no risk of having to email possibly-virus infected files. I could also see it being used as a collaborative notepad for ongoing projects, such as evaluations of new software by a team. Everyone can use it if they have access to the internet and it doesn't require software to be downloaded and registered. Given that functionality, it is an advantage over Microsoft Word.
On a negative side, serious researchers would not be able to get it to interact with bibliographic software such as Endnote's desktop software. It would be interesting to see if the ISI Endnote Web program, another to shun software that must be installed to a computer, is ever made interactive with Google Docs. There is also the issue with shared files: what if someone makes changes that another disagrees with?
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That's true; there's not really a notion of version control in Google Docs, is there? So important for any serious content management system.
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