Now this is a pleasant surprise. Google Docs now works offline, letting you edit without a connection. Changes will be cached locally and updated when the internet returns. Clay Bavor, product manager for Google Apps, demonstrated on stage at Google I/O — after he plugged the ethernet cable back in, a prompt appears in the Docs window ("syncing offline changes") and a few moments afterward, the document was updated. Offline syncing should be available today — here's hoping it works even if the browser crashes, rather than closing properly.

Check out our Google I/O 2012 day two keynote live blog for the latest updates!