What is Digg?99 Comments
- geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+33I can understand being anti-Google, I really can. They're a very different company. They fail to follow other companies that Wall Street worships and do everything in their own ways.
But, I'm only here to argue your core argument, that Google's going to crash and burn any time soon. Here's the problem with that notion, Google was a multi-billion dollar profittable company before its IPO. It's still a multi-billion dollar profittable company now. In fact, its growth alone is just now starting to slow, as Google tries to diversify its core model away from just being an Ad agency. So even if it's stock were to die, Google would still be alive, and still making profit. No one thing is going to kill Google.
I understand a lot of Google products are in Beta. Google leans on the word Beta to mean "we don't really know what we're going to do with it yet." GMail is a novel idea, albeit slowed in adoption over privacy concerns and "invite-only" behavior. But, they sell ads with it, so it's probably a profittable product, even in it's "beta" state. GTalk is an ongoing failure, but the technology behind it is sound, which does mean a lot; Google's Jingle will be integrated into the next generation Gaim and any other client that decides to accept Google's license, and we'll have a nice VOIP system to bank on. Though, it will still suck as an instant messanger. Google Video was another program ahead of its time, and eclipsed by the implementation of YouTube, not to mention Google's bad UI design, poor choice of uploaders, and no way to give the videos meaningful metadata OS-side; instead you have to enter in all of your meta-data server side, which can take a long time for a batch upload.
Now Google is trying to expand further by holding your files instead of just indexing them. It's a good idea, nobody knows how well it will work, but as you may or may not already be seeing... Google is an Idea-based company. They've got enough money now to where they can live off ad profits for years to come, and simply keep trying things out until they find the one thing that really works and has a sustainable business model behind it. Their IPO has given them time as a company to find where they belong. Writely adds to their business by allowing customers to read/write their word documents they upload. This is a huge coup, especially in co-operative products. Even Microsoft has been trying to get this to catch on inside of Office, but with nominal success (it works, but it's not stellar).
You see, it's not about one product being terrific, it's about the company. The company is continuously innovating, and as long as they stay true to that, they'll stay alive as a company. (Just look at Lucent Technologies if you need another example. Sure, the company is tiny, and it's been on the verge of dying plenty of times, but they've been innovators since Bell Labs was invented. If anything, their spinoff from Ma Bell just slowed down the innovation due to the lack of funds, but even on the verge of bankrupcy, they've been innovators. And that's what Technology should be about.) - blugu64, on 10/12/2007, -0/+19Perhaps also the second line of the webpage that says "...that's now part of Google." ;)
and
http://writely.blogspot.com/2006/03/google-yep-google.html - pinac, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19Looks like this is a done deal. check out the copyright at the bottom of http://www.writely.com/
©2006 Google Inc. - allthewhile, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18I've used writely all year in my classroom. It's the perfect way to monitor student progress on papers and assignments. They simply add me as colaborator and I can add notes and help with editing. Not only that but students no longer have to worry about computer disks or "getting the right computer."
It's brilliant stuff. - bradspry, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Excellent. Google has a web word processor. Now, let's shop for a web spreadsheet. Num Sum would be an excellent choice: http://numsum.com Or a bigger deal would be for software + person with WikiCalc and Dan Bricklin: http://www.softwaregarden.com/wkcalpha/
- daving31, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Writely is awesome. Just used it for a class project earlier this term. We were all able to login together sitting on laptops at our library, all work on our 10-page paper together, each person having each other's edits instantly. It was wonderful.
As for the comment about "What if your company's internet goes down.." If that happens, your company has bigger problems on its hands, you won't be doing much work anyways. And besides, how often does this happen and for that matter, how long does the outage usually last? - DanThe1Man, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I heard rumors that some google coders were trying to make a open office plug in for web browsers that would pretty much do the same thing as this with open office code. I can imagine that would be hell with the size of the code base. I can see them thinking "This isn't going well, let's just buy someone else's product." I know from experience that kind of thinking can happen with big companies.
- Tyrekicker, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9I think they are chewing much more than they can bite. Google's list of acquisitions is relatively small in relation to the worth of the business. Writely will be nothing more than a spec of sand in palm of the Google conglomerate.
- MikeCampo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Hopefully that purchase wouldn't include you.
- babbling, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Companies that have profits in the billions that are INCREASING don't quite "come down hard"...
- emiles, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Ok, that was a fine article, but Access equivalent to Google Base (in the chart)? Give me a break!!
- MrKite, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6there's something about using an online service to write my business related docs that I don't like.
- junesix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I think some of you are going a bit overboard on the privacy issue. Google sells ads - everything they do/acquire ultimately is supposed to help them sell ads. Google doesn't sell any products or services so what would they do with all your "private" info? Google could care less if you're writing about - all that matters to them is to serve up ads that are relevant to the content of your document. If you're talking about cars, Google wants to be there to serve up ads for car manufacturers, dealers, mechanics, and accessories stores. Writely fits into Google's plans of providing ads for your entire Internet experience - ads while you check email, search the Internet, interact with friends, view classifieds, and now write documents. People make the mistake of thinking of Google as a pure software developer. They're not - they are an ad revenue-based service provider.
- technstuff, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4"We have closed off new registrations until we move Writely to Google's systems."
- junkfood, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Well, I'm a fan of Google. If for no other reason, they produce tons of products (some better than others) and nearly all of them are free. And even if they crash and burn (Google Talk), there's still hope for better use in the future (like pulling it into Gmail). Besides they move the needle of the tech industry. Companies like MS and Yahoo are continually being pushed by Google. If not for Gmail, we'd still be using 6MB email accounts in Yahoo and celebrating the fact that we had more than Hotmail's 2MB.
Oh, and I've been a huge fan of Writely for a while. So I'm happy to have them together now. - babbling, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I agree. I'd just like to see Google get behind OpenOffice and push. They could pay a small team to work on it full-time, and add it to Google Pack. Eventually MS Office would decline in market share as a result. No one wants to use their web browser as a word processor. (maybe I'll be proven wrong about that within a year or two...)
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6Also, see the word 'Beta' at the top. Now that is a definite giveaway that it is a google product :-)
- smellinator, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5well, why waste time reinventing the wheel? Time (time-to-market) seems to be the most valuable commodity here for Google, since money isn't an issue.
- webdevil, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Once again I just want to say that it wasn't that long ago that companies didn't trust computers all together. They were very much about typewriters and paper.
It's dumb to make a flat out prediction at this point that this won't work. - geminitojanus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Regards to Skype: Google already ground up their own VOIP solution, and is building the Internet infrastructure up to make sure it runs. They've teamed up with Earthlink and their TrueVoice program to insure cross-client talking. Skype is just one VOIP solution. So is Vonage. Google didn't really miss the boat, they had a competitor.
Though Flickr could have really been an asset to Google; it would have given Google a way to expand GIS, something that IMO has been dead to innovation for a long time now. Whether if it's just because image processing requires so much computational power, or if it's just not the "hot" technology, it's something I still feel is missing in the Internet Search realm. - rezmutt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I recently registered with writely and I am using it for a project with friends across the country. The program is pretty good, saves in most common doc formats. The added bonus is that you don't need a expensive program to create documents with.
I do have a gmail account and I'm wondering how they can integrate this with google. - spyres, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3---How about OpenOffice.org documents?
Yes! We support direct conversion from and to ODF. One note: if your document is password protected, please remove the password before uploading it to Writely.
Interesting. More Support for ODF. Potentially in product that could see some real use. - Ahheck01, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Has anybody considered that Google is keeping everything in beta until they add all the different things that will be a part of there huge online software suite... thing? They've already integrated it with our desktops, into our browsers, and many of us rely on them for searching, email, soon to be calendars... but it's all in beta.
Perhaps when "all the planets align" for google, there will be one mass integration of everything exacly how they want it to be, then go out of beta with everything in a revolutionizing moment when Google instantly kills off Microsoft Office, Exchange, Explorer, etc. in one fell swoop?
Or perhaps this is all practice... building software piece after software piece based on user suggestions until they've mastered what the customer wants with what suits their plan, and come out with a Google OS?
Just some thoughts...
-Evan - awwwmang, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5yep http://www.writely.blogspot.com/ read all about it
- Reddog_x2000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I might use it occasionally for some light, non-confidential word processing. But, I really prefer to keep my documents stored locally, behind my firewalls (backed up of course). My internet access doesn't go down much. But, it does go down more than my computer breaks.
- webdevil, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4"Like not being able to edit them when the company internet dies? Or when an IT admin screws up the AD database? Or when the internet is just too damn slow one day? Or when your browser breaks?"
Um, you have the same issues with other docs.
What if your fileserver goes down? What if your network card goes out? What if your hard drive fails? What if your IT department can't get to you for another hour because the presidents computer failed? What if you get a virus and your computer runs to slow?
Point being "online", "offline" who cares every technology is dependent on another. If you want to be 100% safe go back to pencil and paper.
Also it's inovation like this that makes the world progress. I'm sure at one time or another someone said "there's something about using a computer to write my business related docs that I don't like." - StanrickKubley, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Is Google going to index all the documents on Writely?
- funderbolt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3That means we can rightly write that Writely is now rightfully owned by google, right?
- funderbolt, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"break the stranglehold of MS Office."
I don't think mass computer user base ready for Writely and it can have the effect of "breaking the stanglehold" as you put it. I like having ubiquitous Documents that I can edit on my time wherever I'm at and know I have the most current version.
But, I will usually click on that Word or OO Icon (or use a text editor) to write a document before I'd surf over to Writely. In Writely I'd have to log in. If I had multiple documents that where somewhat related, I could see logging in. Most people have only a few applications where they need to access documents at many different places. For example, this might not be be a bad way to do a school paper or a small group project.
I tried using a Wiki for a study guide for a senior-level University course in a program that is fairly computer intesive about 18 monthes ago. I put it online and emailed the whole class the link requesting that they make modifications to this study guide. Only, one person added to the study guide, but everybody printed a copy of it. (You can guess who was bitter about that experience.)
Bottom line, I don't think people are ready to give up their word processors for an online one because there are few benefits. - solidcube, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Writely is great. I really like it. Still some rough spots in there but it's definitely usable.
I wrote for 8 hours yesterday on writely.
No, I don't trust them not to lose all my data. But I do think this is going to be a zero-effort play for Google that will severely undercut microsoft. - ahmerhussain, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Doesn't Writely use M$ .asp ?
- thewhitefedora, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2www.writely.com Google already owns it.
Old, no digg. - alexanderkirk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Has been confirmed: http://writely.blogspot.com/2006/03/google-yep-google.html
- warofwrath, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Writely is excellent for schoolwork (been using it since September). I hope now with Google's weight the Safari developers will get their arms twisted enough to finally make it compatible.
- GuineaPig, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It sure does. It's based on ASP.NET.
Considering that they'll have to rewrite it or use Microsoft technology, I'm not sure how this will save them a bunch of time. - zone, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3aw damn it, i should have registered this morning when i had the chance :(
- shamilton, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2blogger, gmail, writely ... Google is finding its' way into the content creation stream. Which means that when the content publishes, it's free to be indexed, searched, and rendered with advertising (that's where the $ is). Writely can grow to allow tabular formatting and calculation, which will cover two-thirds of all "documents" created. What writely does (well) is delivery-neutral content creation. You can publish the content as a blog (Blogger), a document of various flavors (Writely), a web page (Page Creator Writely), and in the end, as raw content (tagged xml). The more Google can play a role in the creation and distribution of content, the better they can align that content with relevant other (paid, advertising) content. Also, this dovetails beautifully with GDrive. "Why not create and store your content in the same place?"
This is a great move on Google's part. It's also probably a great thing for Writely as an application, becuase of Google's resources-- engineers and money and bandwidth and up-time reliability. It really does slip into the Googleverse seamlessly. - Namco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Honestly, what company in their right mind would use a web app for editing word docs or opening spreadsheets? MS Office's Enterprise market share won't be decreasing anytime soon. This deal will only (greatly) benefit the home user who's getting ripped off adding $150 to their Dell computer order to be able to open word docs on their new computer. It's going to benefit the home user who still has their Office '97 CD and goes around installing it on their 3.4GHZ XP SP2 computers using the CD key of 01234-01234567890.
This is going to be awesome for the home user and for Dell who already has that deal with Google. They've been putting Google Desktop on new Dells for months. Dell will be able to offer a cheaper, more functional computer to the home users and will still sell the Office suite to the Enterprise.
Only Microsoft will be hurt at the loss of the home, student, and small business segment of their Office customer base.. - norick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It doesn't surprise me, I was wondering why google hadn't release an gOffice before...
But I was thinking that the company behind writeboard, 37signals, was a better acquisition (the products they make like ta-da list, backpack, campfire, basecamp are really good products).
I think google miss the boat when they didn't acquire flickr, skype and del.icio.us. Yahoo and EBay made a good point there. - SirNuke, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3That is what killed off ASPs (Application Service Providers) quite a few years ago, which were once predicted to be the next Big Thing. While one of the huge issues (service stability) Google can solve, I wonder what Google's policies are on holding onto the documents after they have been written? And I wonder if Google will provide a https connection for more privacy?
Though the best answer is probably don't use the service for anything that would be destructive if let loose in the wild. - thefurryone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It gave me some trouble with an OOo doc I uploaded maybe three months ago; it ate all my tab characters and messed up my page margins something fierce. Still, for an instant always-there word processor it's not half bad.
- restive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Just my $0.02, but anyone who thinks that online word processing "will never catch on" for uptime, security, etc. concerns is thinking a little short. Even Microsoft is coming out with online word processing, so they obviously think there is a need as well.
Plus, there are countless ways to solve these kinds of concerns. Maybe Google could sell appliance-type systems to companies with the application pre-installed, maybe there are ways of replicating your online docs locally, etc, etc, etc. The mere fact that something *can* be done online opens up huge possibilities and helps to break the stranglehold of MS Office.
Also, Writely currently exports their docs in HTML, RTF, PDF, Word, OOo, etc. - synae, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1it's true, if you think back to thier goal: to organize and make (easily) available all of the world's information.
some people think this is bad, some people don't. - jupo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Every time a web application startup gets picked up by one of the big boys I feel my life getting shorter and shorter. All the same, congratulations to Writely.
- DigitalKNK, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Eh it was bound to happen, either by yahoo or someone else ... as long as they keep up with the features they have now and continue working on the features then it's okie with me. One thing I don't like is though is the fact that we will have google ads on our documents. :-(
- vdxc, on 09/29/2008, -1/+2this has already happend! check the Google blog ... or the Writely website
- pacificdave, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1back in the closet you go!
- synae, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1IIRC, blogger, picasa, and google earth all used to be operated by other companies that have since been purchased by everyone's favorite advertising company.
this isn't the first time. - just2digg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Orkut is also .NET
Google already uses MS in many internal projects. - synae, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1so because they haven't announced anything recently, all of thier employees aren't doing anything? that's an interesting conclusion.
-
Show 51 - 96 of 96 discussions
Digg is coming to a city (and computer) near you! Check out all the details on our 
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is