What You Should Know Regarding Online Word Processors
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Nancy Finney October 10, 2007 WRT 351 What you should know Regarding Online Word Processors Web 2.0 and Word Processing Online word processing would have seemed impossible five years ago, but as the evolution of the Internet moves ever so quickly, word processing follows suit. Online word processing is a huge step forward in the movement of free software and Internet for everyone. Programs like Writely, Zoho, Google Docs, and Thinkfree are some of the programs that allow word processing to be done online, and there are bound to be more as the Internet continues to expand. Word processing software was originally developed to help hone typing skills. Many different programs utilized the simplistic idea of words on a screen. Now as Web 2.0 is occurring, word processing is changing from desktop software to online productivity suites. Microsoft’s Office Monopoly Microsoft has had a monopoly in many ways with the computer and Internet, and word processing is no exception. Microsoft Office and specifically Microsoft Word has become the main office software (also known as office productivity suites) that is used. Online word processors have been mentioned often on National Public Radio, blogs, the news, and many other places. Word processors are “used for communication and collaboration: creating, saving, sharing, and reading text” among other things. (Examples in Word Processing) One of the most important aspects of usability in a word processing program is the format. The format is the type of file that the document is stored as. For example, some formats are: .doc, .rtf, .pdf, and .odt. The format is so integral with these documents because it is what allows a document to be compatible on another computer so that another reader can view the document. If something is saved as .odt (Open Office’s format) and one tries to open it on Microsoft Word, the document will not open easily if it even opens at all. As more programs are developing online, this problem (and many others) will become more prevalent. Having so many different programs will make it a necessity for compatibility to happen. Another problem with regular offline software is that the programs don’t remain up to date, and as Word or any other program makes changes to the software, it will need a new patch or update to install, and eventually the program will be so old that a new one will emerge that can cost hundreds of dollars or more. This problem is known as shifting standards, “regularly changing the format or other parts of a program. This accidentally or deliberately interferes with other programs’ compatibility.” (Examples in Word Processing) When this happens, there are many potential problems. Two users working together on a project need to have the same program in order to collaborate, and money needs to be available to the user of the processor if their version is no longer up to the current standards. Picture: Zoho Writer Online Productivity Suites Can Erase Typical Problems A good solution to this problem with format is to derive one that can be used with all programs. “Open formats like HTML and XML allow educators and students to easily change or move files from program to program or computer to computer.” (Examples in Word Processing) Even though most software allows one to save in these formats or others that are compatible with most software, the problems with shifting standards can’t be solved. This leads to a grand idea of online word processing software. There is quite a variety of online word processing software, and though a comprehensive list would get repetitive and exhausting, a sampling would be effecting in evaluating the options and comparing them. Features of Current Online Productivity Suites Office productivity suites are set up similarly to desktop programs. They support most file formats (.odt, .ods, .rtf, .csv, .ppt, .xls, .doc) and one can choose if others have access to the document and who those users might be. This is a great feature, because the papers can be edited and saved in real time. For example, one could have a rough draft of a paper saved and edited by someone of their choice in that drafting stage. When the paper is done, the editor can go back and re-read it simply by going to the same link. The paper is always updated whenever the writer works on it, which is somewhat more convenient than email. With a desktop word processor, the file would have to be saved (hopefully in the right format) and then sent to the editor. Then it would have to be saved again and sent again. This concept is unique to the internet, and particularly for editing purposes is a great convenience. There are some new monopolies developing with this software, the members still need to use the same program (Google Docs users are Gmail users). Though it may still be a pain to join a website, since these programs are currently free, the inconvenience is not nearly what it would be with offline suites. “You can collaborate on a document so that several people can edit it at the same time, which is either wonderful or totally confusing, depending on your needs and point of view.” (And Writely So) Picture: Google’s Productivity Software Suite Like desktop software, files are importable and exportable, and have similar organization systems for documents. Work can be published as a web page or to a blog as well. Some (Zoho Writer) can import HTML content from web pages. With Zoho Writer, the interface can be customized with so that there aren’t tools that are unnecessary or in the way and tabbed viewing. These interfaces allow users to pick how they want the screen to look while they are working, and the aesthetics of this could be really beneficial. Some programs have modeled their programs to look like Word (ThinkFree) too. It is also possible to do document searches in some of these programs. What are Current Issues with Productivity Software? Unfortunately at this point in time, the current online productivity suites are not as user-friendly as Microsoft Office. As MacManus explains, “Once the current crop of alpha and beta web-based office products reach a level of maturity, they will be ready to challenge Microsoft for the minds and pockets of consumers.” He also addresses a very relevant concern: privacy. As more text makes it onto the internet, more viewers can access it. This could be a concern with a book in the process of being published, or high-security government documents. MacManus later explains, “Office apps are just too important to corporate productivity for CIOs and IT managers to entrust their businesses with web- based apps, without complete confidence in their functionality (ability to do the job efficiently) and performance (security and uptime).” Most certainly over time with more development these applications will rise and probably be the normal way to write documents. Storage space is also a concern for users (many of these sites have limited storage), but it is still conceivable to save a document to the hard drive, a flash drive, or online space. With wireless becoming more prominent, another issue is losing internet access and the document. Some of these programs appear to have that problem fixed by auto-save, but leaving an important document in cyberspace may not sound appealing to many. If the documents aren’t accessible offline, then if one is at the beach, on a plane, or in the middle of the desert, this technology will be useless. Of course, in ten years it is conceivable that wireless will be accessible in every location on the planet. Simply due to space restrictions, sometimes these sites are not as extensive as desktop programs, but this could be fixed as internet becomes even faster. Picture: Thinkfree The Future of Productivity Suites It will be interesting to see what will happen as Web 2.0 comes into play with these programs. The similarity to Microsoft Word might be important, but Google might have a better chance due to such a large customer base. Web 2.0 will have a major impact on the usage of these applications, and as the internet becomes readily accessible to everyone, word processing will have to do the same. Of utmost importance is that this software will remain free to the user. If prices are put onto this technology, it will take away from its advantage, even if it is cheaper than the standard word processors. So far these programs all remain free to the user and provide a certain amount of space free of charge, but that could be simply because they are in the developing stages. Online productivity suites are just starting out, but in five or ten years, they may be the standard for all office programs. Bibliography “And Writely So.” Personal Computer World. December 2006. 25 September 2007. <http://proquest.umi.com.libproxy.library.wmich.edu/pdgweb?did=1142844461sid=1&fmt=3& clntId=32424&RQT=309&Vname=PQD> “Examples in Word Processing.” Open Options. 25 September 2007. <http://www.netc.org/openoptions/background/word.html> Kyrnin, Mark. “Essential Software.” 26 September 2007. <http://compreviews.about.com/od/buyers/a/ProductivtySoft.htm> Marshall, James. “ThinkFree Online Office.” 25 September 2007. <http://wordprocessing.about.com/od/choosingsoftware/gr/thinkfree.htm> Marshall, James. “Writely Online Word Processing Software.” 25 September 2007. <http://wordprocessing.about.com/od/choosingsoftware/gr/writerly.htm> Marshall, James. “Zoho Online Word Processor.” 25 September 2007. <http://wordprocessing.about.com/od/choosingsoftware/gr/Zohowriter.htm> Needleman, Rafe. “Who needs a word processor when you have Writely?” 26 April 2006.