That's the title of yesterday's New York Times article on Microsoft's launch of Office Live Workspace. There is so much that could be written here but let's let the professionals do it:
- Gina Trapani, Lifehacker goddess: "The catch? You can only edit the spreadsheet, Word doc or slideshow if you have MS Office installed on your computer. Uh, ok."
- Tech Crunch's Michael Arrington"Google and other Office competitors will be breathing a sigh of relief this morning - this is not a decisive move by Microsoft to crush the competition as they did with Netscape more than a decade ago. Microsoft has failed to understand the real power of Google Docs - easy, no hassle document creation, collaboration and access from the browser. And it will take them another two years of fidgeting before they really get scared and react properly. Microsoft is falling into the classic trap of failing to realize the disruptive nature of a new competitive technology, instead focusing on the massive revenues it generates from their aging Office suite. Google Docs is tearing the Office wall down, and Microsoft has failed to respond."
It's getting sort of crowded out there.
Of course even Google Docs and similar tools are missing the real disruptive technology which is to not just provide web-based office apps but to provide full remote file hosting with an open API so that any web-based app, desktop-based app, file-system, etc can take advantage of it in a way easy for users to use.
I want all my files in one place and to be able to access them from multiple applications. This should be as easy as creating an account and then generating access keys for individual apps. I go to the web-app of my choice and enter the access key I generated for them and they can save files where I can easily access them, but they can only access the files in the section defined for them. I do a quick install and I have a new file system on my computer that lets me seamlessly store files online. I access a special web-based tool and I have full system backups being kept remotely. That is what is going to be disruptive. I have my own service in creation. It'll be interesting to see what big players put out to compete.
Posted by: MikeFM | 02 October 2007 at 18:50