4 ms·

we need a web version of word I thought we already had a web version of the word - "web portal" Google as far as I can tell is already essentially a "web OS"

• sown 18y ago
  I meant more like "Microsoft Word". :)
  • froo 18y ago
    Zoho Writer, Google Docs, Adobe Buzzword etc.
    • unalone 18y ago
      Yeah, but each one has pretty big flaws with it. None directly compare yet.
      • froo 18y ago
        I guess that's what happens when you have 25 years of development time in a product (Word was originally released in 1983 called Multi-Tool Word) vs what... 2 for the rest?
        • sown 18y ago
          I guess my only problem is I don't see the point. I'm probably making a foolish assertion. Perhaps the future will be better or different but I don't trust any corporation enough to just hand them the everything over the network. I hear a lot of talk about "cost" being an advantage but I don't quite see how "doing it over the network" is going to inherently going to bring costs down.
          • froo 18y ago
            but I don't quite see how "doing it over the network" is going to inherently going to bring costs down It's a simple matter of the economics of scale. Let's assume it takes 1 IT person per small business and assume there are 1000 businesses. The cost of upgrading and maintaining all those systems is roughly 1000 salaries. Now if you take those same 1000 businesses and provide them with SaaS solutions (assuming cost of software will remain consistent between the two platforms) and say that you have a decent sized team of 50 people, then assuming the salaries are consistent you're solution is much cheaper. This is a very simplified way to put it, but should make it clear.
            • sown 18y ago
              Interesting. But what if they starting just charging me out the nose again?
        • unalone 18y ago
          I understand that. But at the same time: Word is a current standard. If other products want to win me over, they can't cite lack of time and expect a good response. Pages has been around for about as long as Google Docs, I believe, and it's a much better program. So, again, timing is nothing but an excuse.
          • froo 18y ago
            Word is a current standard. If other products want to win me over, they can't cite lack of time and expect a good response I agree, Word is (arguably) Microsoft's premier product that they put out. Many people will say that Windows is, but I think Windows is their flagship product, people use it because they think they have too. People opt in for Word. Anyway, when was the last time that Word was just a word processor? There are a lot of features in word that can be thought of to be excessive. I'd be curious to see what the actual numbers were on features and usage, as I have a sneaking suspicion that a large number of people who use word use it for simple document editing, saving, opening and printing. Sites like Zoho currently do this, quite well actually, so I think it's a case of Zoho has to break through 25 years of branding more than anything else.
            • unalone 18y ago
              I prefer Pages to Word, but page layout is a part of any modern word processor. Zoho is the worst. It's ugly and unpleasant to use. Part of being a word processor is not a matter of features, it's a matter of appealing to users. I'd pick Notepad to Zoho. Anything that doesn't have that horrendous aesthetic.
      • shankys 18y ago
        What are the major flaws in Buzzword? I find it vastly superior to all its competitors.
        • unalone 18y ago
          First off, it's slow. Not ultraslow, but slow enough to be considered impractical for when I feel the urge to write something. Then, it's online and there's no good way to access it. I set it up to work with Prism, once upon a time, but Buzzword couldn't remember my password and I had to log in each time. Formatting messes up when it's between any format and Flash. That was an annoyance. Finally, getting a hard copy of your stuff if you've got a lot is tedious. Docs has a gadget for mass downloading. Buzzword can't be modified in that way.
    • gstar 18y ago
      I hate Word. I needed to print 300 address labels last night. I tried outputting HTML in a table (evil), then I tried reportlab (more evil). I ended up outputting them as csv and importing them into Excel and doing a mail-merge with Word. Word even shipped with a template for the exact avery labels that I bought. Web word processors have a long way to go. I know Word is a kitchen sink, but it's a working kitchen sink.