One of my biggest gripes with having Gmail as primary e-mail client disappeared as they announced Gears integration.

It allows you to sync your Gmail with your computer, so that you can access it when offline. It also has a ”flaky connection mode” that has Gmail operate in offline mode, but with continous syncing in the background.

In essence, Gmail is now a fully functional IMAP client in your browser. It’s great news for anyone who’s commited to the Gmail interface (I’m not one of them).

On a wider scale – the emergent trend is clear with regards to the cloud revolution. Services in the cloud, with local cache for offline situations. You might want to hold off on that netbook just yet – it might not hold your data :).

They made a video for people who don’t know how to read, or whatever.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOAZaIaeIrI]