3 ms·

What's wrong with Drive? Doesn't it export to open formats rather easily?

by myko 14y ago

zanny 14y ago
In the word processing space, the cost to switch providers is much higher because unlike in the rss space, the average user isn't usually technically inclined. It is why MSword persists as a huge market leader, even after its ribbon interface turned it into crap, and there were competitive FOSS alternatives to a hundred dollar purchase price. Google docs as a consumer use case isn't bad - hopefully you have the brain to know how to get all your drive content and switch when they eventually kill Google Docs as not profitable enough. The problem is the business use case - and this comes from the popularity in the consumer space. The collaberative features of docs/drive is even more applicable in a workplace environment, and if businesses that hire "less technically inclined" people and have to hand hold them into getting used to it, and are presented with a demand to switch, the transition overhead would be massive. It is actually a strong business interest to use FOSS because I bet it would cost less to get a junior developer to manage a fork of an old interface / feature that was depreciated in mainline and keep the security up to date than it would cost an actually big business to switch their entire software suite away from a depreciated closed product / one that radically shifts.
- criley 14y ago
  I strongly prefer ribbon to the endless dropdowns and modals of LibreOffice and versions of Word that are more than a decade old. I never understood the hate myself, LibreOffice and Old Word have one of the worst uis out there. It's like the Geocities of productivity software.
  - zanny 14y ago
    It isn't about ribbon being inherently good or bad, it is how it required the retraining of dumb office staff that could barely hit the power on button of an office PC if it turned off. If you are using closed software and that kind of thing happens, either you try to hold on to an outdated unsupported version or pay the overhead of transitioning your staff to a new interface. Same reason no one wants to even try Windows 8.
    - criley 14y ago
      So change = bad? Gotcha. EDIT: FWIW, I use Windows8 and think it's superior to 7 in almost every regard :\
      - zanny 14y ago
        From a business perspective, especially in large corporate environments where the majority of your workforce is often mediocre, absolutely. It is wildly expensive to switch tech. It is why Microsoft has done so well with Windows for 20 years, businesses get on the purple dragon and Microsoft juggles keeping everything supported to keep them happy and unchanging.

What's wrong with Drive? Doesn't it export to open formats rather easily?

by myko 14y ago

What's wrong with Drive? Doesn't it export to open formats rather easily?

zanny 14y ago

In the word processing space, the cost to switch providers is much higher because unlike in the rss space, the average user isn't usually technically inclined. It is why MSword persists as a huge market leader, even after its ribbon interface turned it into crap, and there were competitive FOSS alternatives to a hundred dollar purchase price. Google docs as a consumer use case isn't bad - hopefully you have the brain to know how to get all your drive content and switch when they eventually kill Google Docs as not profitable enough. The problem is the business use case - and this comes from the popularity in the consumer space. The collaberative features of docs/drive is even more applicable in a workplace environment, and if businesses that hire "less technically inclined" people and have to hand hold them into getting used to it, and are presented with a demand to switch, the transition overhead would be massive. It is actually a strong business interest to use FOSS because I bet it would cost less to get a junior developer to manage a fork of an old interface / feature that was depreciated in mainline and keep the security up to date than it would cost an actually big business to switch their entire software suite away from a depreciated closed product / one that radically shifts.

criley 14y ago
I strongly prefer ribbon to the endless dropdowns and modals of LibreOffice and versions of Word that are more than a decade old. I never understood the hate myself, LibreOffice and Old Word have one of the worst uis out there. It's like the Geocities of productivity software.
- zanny 14y ago
  It isn't about ribbon being inherently good or bad, it is how it required the retraining of dumb office staff that could barely hit the power on button of an office PC if it turned off. If you are using closed software and that kind of thing happens, either you try to hold on to an outdated unsupported version or pay the overhead of transitioning your staff to a new interface. Same reason no one wants to even try Windows 8.
  - criley 14y ago
    So change = bad? Gotcha. EDIT: FWIW, I use Windows8 and think it's superior to 7 in almost every regard :\
    - zanny 14y ago
      From a business perspective, especially in large corporate environments where the majority of your workforce is often mediocre, absolutely. It is wildly expensive to switch tech. It is why Microsoft has done so well with Windows for 20 years, businesses get on the purple dragon and Microsoft juggles keeping everything supported to keep them happy and unchanging.