docs, gmail, etc. It syncs when you're back online (automatically, I
think) so working on multiple computers isn't an issue. Supported on many
platforms, but so far only with Firefox on the Mac, IE and Firefox on
Windows, etc.
I agree, however, that Google docs is clumsy and limited when you're used
to Word. Works well for collaboration, but that's about it.
cheers,
- marty
--
Marty Billingsley
Department of Computer Science
The University of Chicago Laboratory Schools
Keith E Gatling <kgatling@MPH.NET> writes:
>
> A lot of people here have been talking about how great the Google Apps
> are.
> They're free, they're platform independent, they use an open standard,
> they're great for collaboration, etc.
>
> But here's my question: how well do they compare to the apps people use in
> the "real world?" Yes, I know that Word and Excel aren't free, but for the
> money I pay, they have some features that I really like. Even back when
> Claris/Appleworks came bundled with Macs I still preferred Word because of
> the features that I had gotten used to having available to me. I tried the
> Google word processor for an hour or so and found it quite annoying
> compared
> to what I was used to.
>
> The other thing that bugs me, even as I'm writing this in Gmail, is how
> the
> whole thing seems to depend on being actively online all the time. I
> remember loving Eudora as an email program because it only required you to
> be online to send and receive mail, not to read or compose it. As much as
> I
> love the fact that all my addresses and email follow me everywhere with
> Gmail, it still irks me that I have to be online to compose or read the
> old
> stuff (yes, I know about IMAP, but I'm not there yet, I'm still thinking
> in
> the POP world).
>
> Same thing with the other Google apps, I don't like that I have to be
> online
> to get any work done. I don't like the idea that if I'm somewhere without
> an
> Internet connection, I can't get any work done. Oh, I suppose it's great
> that the files are available to me anywhere, but it seems like a giant
> step
> backward to the days of Pine, VI, and other software that required you to
> be
> logged onto the host, and dependent on a conneection, in order to do your
> work.
>
> Does anyone else share my concerns here, or are there some huge advantages
> to being tethered to the Internet that I'm not aware of.
[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
RSS Feed, http://listserv.syr.edu/scripts/wa.exe?RSS&L=ISED-L
