What Google Currents should have been?

Google Currents is the new hero in the Android Application world. It is not available anywhere else in the world right now, other than US. If you are anywhere else, you will have to go online, find the apk file for Google Currents and side load it. Or you can download it directly from the Android Market, if you have your phone rooted, using a Market Enaber. Google, being as free and open as it can be, will not block you from using Currents even if you do not live in US right now.

I have downloaded Google Currents straight from the Market, using a Market Enabler and I fell totally in love with the design. Google Currents is designed well - simple, minimalistic and easy to use. By allowing content providers to design the streams on their own, Google has enhanced the design possibility and readability of this app, making it my everyday news reader.

That said, Google Currents is still not the Google Currents I want it to be. What do I want Google Currents to be?

I want it to be my best news reader application, socially enabled and well curated. At present Currents is just another application that allows you to visit websites in a different format. I would like it to be an application that brings me the news as it is happening, irrespective of the which websites I subscribe to. I would like it to be like Google News of the Android World.

I would also like it to pull links from my social networks and tell me what content my friends are consuming. I would like it to filter that content based on what most of my friends like and share.

I would like it to bring me the news based on what I click the most. My interest lies in technology and education. In a perfect world my favourite application would bring me any piece of information, new information, available online about technology and education. I wish Google Currents did that.

See, I have a few favourite websites. I go to them every day. But those favourite websites are not enough for me to discover great content and keep in touch with what is happening in the world. I sometimes get that information based on what friends are sharing online. I sometimes stumble upon great piece of information accidently online. If Google Currents can take care of all that, I may not need another application to go to to consume content.

Google has the wherewithal to do that. They have the power to filter content. They know how to curate it. They know how to integrated it with a social reading experience. And the way Currents is designed gives it enough scope to improvise and include these key features.

Yes, it is just the launch. I am sure Google is working with content providers to make Google Currents an wholesome experience. I am sure it is going to get better in the days to come.