What is Digg?166 Comments
- bbrosemer, on 10/12/2007, -14/+85No... It won't.
- icarus901, on 10/12/2007, -8/+67More than anything, I wonder what Google is up to right now...its been pretty quiet for the past year or so (at least, aside from company acquisitions, webapps graduating from beta, and so on). There's a ton of speculation about dark fiber and regional data centers, but I just want to know what they're planning -- even less stuff leaks out of there than Apple. What's next...?
- Masna, on 10/12/2007, -52/+105Google "Docs" will never replace MS Office, ever. That's almost as dumb as anticipating Yahoo's web-based mail client replacing Outlook, or Mac's Mail. Progs > Webscripts. Get over it.
- snorbaard, on 10/12/2007, -9/+48Simply put, Cglass, Gmail and all its applications require internet acces 100% of the time to work, where Office (Windows or Mac) don't. Not everyone lives in a world where 24/7 high-speed internet connectivity is the norm. Dialup is still the only affordable option in most parts of the world.
The other problem is that you're literally putting all your eggs in one basket - Google's servers. Did anyone forget Google'd recent "oops", deleting a few users' mail? - ThinkFr33ly, on 10/12/2007, -5/+32Boss: Hey, can you make sure you get that document done on your plane ride to Cali?
Employee: Um, I can't because I need an internet connection.
Boss: You don't have a local copy?
Employee: There are no local copies.
Boss: Time to change that. - ben.0081, on 10/12/2007, -4/+28It's really cool and all, but I don't really think a web-based word processor can beat the competition.
- fulldecent, on 10/12/2007, -5/+28The easier they make for me to view, edit, and send back a DOC file without using Word, the more viral this will be. Currently they have a way to open a DOC attachment from gmail immediately in docs, and I can mail it back as an attachment (although it forgets who originally sent me the file, it should prefill this field).
And if firefox 3 has support for opening http://*.doc in google docs, this will even be more effectual. - udubnate, on 10/12/2007, -4/+27No businesses will ever trust companies as google, microsoft to host their personal .docs online. Therefore Google docs will never replace Office.
- PLUMCRAZY, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20Most copies of Office are sold to businesses. Those companies have NO interest in having their documents and information stored anywhere but their network. I can't think of any CEO going along with replacing Office with a WEB based alternative.
I do think Google will be able to make some in-roads with schools and other organizations where document control isn't as critical.
p.s. Anyone who reads several blogs and listens to several podcasts should try out Google Reader. It is way easier to use and is overall better than a lot of other programs I have tried. - bombtrack, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21Without encryption this is an accident waiting to happen with your data.
- rlamoni, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14"I can't wait to see what they will produce"
Why wait? You can try it now.
http://docs.google.com - dgaspard, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14I only use 1% of word's features...
- inkubux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Youre right but whenever I use a Bycicle or Google Docs I feel more healty.
- aaronm67, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13@cglass
It's not "you" that they're worried about. Businesses use Microsoft Office/Outlook. This isn't going to change that at all, and it probably will not change for a very long time. As long as businesses use Microsoft Office/Outlook, the business people probably will, because they need to use them for work. The home user isn't a huge part of their market share. - chadu, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12I'm such a old school mindset type of guy on this, but I really want an offline, binary app for my word processing and spreadsheet type office apps. Am I weird, do others out on Digg feel the same?
- drewskiMD, on 10/12/2007, -6/+14Why doesn't google support safari with these features? They're admittedly nice, but not of such a great benefit that I'm going to switch browsers just so I can use them.
- lightyear4, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12The most interesting part is how things are integrated between the various google services, but by the way, google docs are at available to all of those with a google account. see docs.google.com
- rlamoni, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9I agree that it would not be reasonable for businesses to allow Google to store their documents at Google. However, Google already sells a search appliance to businesses that is safe to use on their intranets because it stores its data locally.
http://www.googlestore.com/appliance/category.asp
Perhaps they will add a documents, e-mail, and spreadsheets upgrade to this solution. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9I already use Google docs for all my uni work.
I don't have to mail the docs to myself or rsync them to my home server.
The collaboration feature works well for group projects, although i would prefer a real time client, like ICQ's chat had, although people deleting large blocks of text could be weird since where your typing would move but i suppose it could be set to remain focused on the cursor position.
I figure Google's data center has much less chance of loosing my documents that I do (although having your own local backup is always advisable).
The Solaris servers that we VNC into don't have any wordprocessors, so i don't have to VNC into a windows system. (they also don't have filemanagers. Thank you aging unix geeks :( )
As for replacing Office in the workplace, not likely. - bostonvoip, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7It would be good to have options beside Office (not counting Openoffice here) but Office is so built into business everywhere that it is very unlikely that it could happen quickly if at all.
- Rice, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11Not for business, but maybe for home use it's a viable alternative.
Anyone who says "replace Office" doesn't really get it. That's not possible.
Edit: xatx, for a wise-ass comment like that, you're blocked. - chriskzoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Google Doc MIGHT be able to compete with Wordpad, but it is in no way even close to Word.
- ThinkFr33ly, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6No, it means that they spend THEIR time and THEIR money writing software that will work on most people's machines.
Opera is not on most people's machines.
If you want to go ahead and donate some money, or time, to them so they can support your pet web browser, sobeit. But stop acting like the world owes you something because you use a different piece of software from 97% of everybody else. - SimonDonkers, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7https://docs.google.com ?
Almost any Google service supports https to make it secure. All AJAX requests that I saw also use https
The only risk is Google itself reading your documents but as this feature is integrated within Gmail that risk has always been there. - ThinkFr33ly, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6"ThinkFr33ly, I'm wondering how you'd react if your favourity pet browser wasn't supported."
Um, I would realize that I'm in no position to demand anything. I would realize that I made a CHOICE to use a browser that few people support. As a result I need to deal with the fact that many sites won't work because companies must target the majority, not the minority, in order to be successful. I would realize that choosing software via idealism instead of practicality is kind of silly and that if I want to use popular services I have to use popular software.
I would also realize that it is stupid to bitch and moan about a service that I'm getting for free.
That's how I would react. - byronm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6@cglass
Your ignorance really shines. I use and push tons of products open source and not. Its not about what you think is value, its about what brings value to your clients and you are failing at your job if you can't "create value". Office is dirt cheap, and no, you probably won't make millions instanty but if your in business ot make money whether it takes 1 year or ten years the ROI of office works and that is why businesses have adopted it. Sure you can push open source alternatives but if you think cost is everything you miss the point of alertnatives completely. The cost of the software is irrelevent, its how well it can be used and how seemless it is to your business. Open source solutions work but your completely misguided on your blind hatred of the alternatives especially if it is your job to help your clients make the best decision.
Become a free microsoft partner, download 120 day evals, if you can't make enough money to cover your costs of being in business then licensing is the least of your concerns. I wouldn't push an open source product if there isn't a support structure behind it either, you bet your beans i would be selling sun office or something with some backing as i surely wouldn't want the responsibility for making it work. That is the benefit of paying for licensing, paying for support is. Businesses generally don't want to invent IT, they want to make money. They're not in it to save 200 bucks, they're in it to make a few million bucks. - lovek, on 10/12/2007, -8/+13Eh, call me when I can write macros.
- byronm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6"bother or expense of microsoft office"???
Funny.. many small businesses will spend 200 on a license for office and eventually make millions in potential revenue from that tiny investment. Costs money to make money and just because there are open source alternatives it doens't mean they're better. Apply your knowledge to satisfy your clients needs, not push some misguided agenda. - jj2me, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4So this means I can read a Word or Excel attachment on a device that doesn't have any office applications, right? Soon making our e-mail reading on a cellphone (or whatever small wireless device) more acceptable.
- pretendex, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4No.
- byronm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I'm not sure what Google is going to replace. People aren't going to move there corporate systems to google and loose control over the policies afforded to them internally and externally.
For the average joe, this is a great feature but even Microsoft is doing this with its "live" brand and for people who love microsoft products it won't matter what google thinks, you think or i think for that matter.
These "taking over the world" doomsday for microsoft programs are getting lame. People need to realize businesses run at there own speed and not on your "philosophy" and businesses like Word, Sharepoint, Office, Excell hell, they like Microsoft.
Sarbans Oxley, auditing, backups/restores, user policy, retention policies, document versioning, control, release and management will either be handled internally or by a service provider who is contracted to live up to requirements/expectations. Google offers none of the above. - fulldecent, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@lovek
> Eh, call me when I can write macros.
Ring.
http://code.google.com/apis/spreadsheets/overview.html - Ratteler, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Don't about google doing it, but OpenOffice is all the suite I'll ever need.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8Uhh guys your talking about Google here...they are the posterboy of reliable and readily available
- Mysk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Really cool feature. Good to know that it's there.
Really exaggerated blog post about Google, as they pretty much always are. - Darthmalt, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6I think they should market this to college students.
We have papers and projects in progress all the time. Right now if you are doing research in the library or are at home and need to go to the library your only option is to save the file to a jump drive or e-mail it to yourself. Not a big hassle but it would be easier if all I had to do was log into docs.google.com (or whatever the address is) and instantly have my in progress paper open and available to me.
Plus then you always have an up to date copy online and available to you. Make it easy to set up groups so that for group projects you could see what everyone was working on and not have to worry because you can't get in touch with your 4th member to e-mail you their part of the paper.
Find a way to integrate it with Facebook groups which are already used for projects. And you should have no problem gaining a foothold with college students who will soon be graduating and entering the workforce. - BrainInAJar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@H3g3m0n:
"The Solaris servers that we VNC into don't have any wordprocessors"
Offtopic, but in defense of Solaris, 10 & Nevada (OpenSolaris) ship with StarOffice, sun's openoffice distro, and gnome-filemanager... your sysadmin not installing them is a seperate issue from the OS itself - ThinkFr33ly, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7"By the way, it's not $200 for a license for every machine in a company, and even small companies have many machines."
You're right. Most companies have the sense to either get a Microsoft "Action Pack" or work out their own license terms. The end result is that Office costs a LOT less than $200/machine.
My company gets office for around $70/machine for Pro.
"Also, to those demanding a local copy, I don't understand how you come off acting like you know exactly the options that are or will be implemented by google."
Maybe because, to a large extent, browser apps are limited by browser capabilities? Maybe because, without stuff like Java, ActiveX, or .NET, you can't really do a whole lot on the local machine? Maybe because browsers were never designed for this kind of stuff and it's all hacked together to get it to work correctly? - Amything, on 10/12/2007, -3/+7Nothing new, lame.
- plasmatic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I've known about this since november. This is not really new news.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4make that notepad...maybe....
- icedevil6, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I highly doubt any software beating out Office in the near future. They've established themselves in every school, business and home in America. Do you have any idea of how difficult it is to undermine such an establishment?
- Rice, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I feel like all of the complexity of a web app still won't be able to match the feature-set of a desktop app.
I like having options such as what Google is doing, but Office 2008 and Pages '07 for the win, methinks. - therearenorules, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4An online office suite cannot replace a standalone suite like Microsoft Office. Especially since Office is pretty much the standard suite used by the mainstream.
OpenOffice can compete, Google Docs cannot. - Sargos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Google Docs still can not add a header to each page like office can.
An example would be the standard "Last Name - #" in the top right corner of each page.
This pretty much kills my ability to do research papers using Google Docs. - Niz1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4hate Microsoft as much as you want but office i have to say is something they have got right.
- ICSU, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3and schools too
- nazadus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Actually, I use Google to most my mail records for my domain. It appears that I haven't gotten those yet, however my regular GMail address has it. Damn!
I just want one email address to rule them all....
I may just forward my domain's email to the gmail one so I don't have to ***** with it... - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Considering NONE of Google's services except for search has replaced ANY of its competitors, or even come close...I'd say the answer is no.
- supermanred, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3You kids nowadayas on the inerrnets with the google.
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