Your Next Office Suite

YOUR NEXT OFFICE SUITE WILL NOT BE LOADED ON YOUR PERSONAL COMPUTER!
(and neither will your documents)

At least that's what companies like AJax 13, and Writely (now part of Google) want you to think. These companies are moving toward an environment that is being dictated by the idea that:

The majority of consumers use their computers for office-like functions (word processing, database, spreadsheet) or even managing their music library.
A Microsoft Office suite can cost between $200-$400, which drives up the cost of a personal computer.
Broadband services like cable and DSL are becoming more affordable
Storage (both "offline" - hard drives, and "online" services) are becoming more affordable.

There are other points (pros) to be made about having always-available Internet access, and these companies are gearing up to allow the Internet to be more than just a place to look for new information or to "back up" documents from your local computer. The shift is moving toward the concept of the Internet STORING your personal files, regardless of what computer you are on, AND GIVING YOU THE TOOLS TO WORK WITH THOSE FILES, regardless of what software applications are actually installed on your local computer. All that's needed is Internet access (broadband preferred of course), and a web browser. The "software as a service" vision is becoming reality.

Right now, you can use your Mozilla Firefox* web browser and go to www.ajaxlaunch.com. Ajax is a newly-developed coding language for web browsers that does the internal translation between local documents and html pages you see on the Internet every day. You will see some applications available now [some nearly-complete, some not] that let you do things like:

open and edit Microsoft Word documents
open and edit Microsoft Excel documents
open and edit graphics files, charts
edit video and share it
manage your ever-growing digital music library
and more...

Google, too, has an online spreadsheet in development, as well as other projects that aim to replicate some if not all the functions of your typical "office" suite.

What about cost? As stated above, the typical Office Suite from Microsoft can cost between $200-$400; these web-based applications are completely free, and sometimes include some level of online storage. However, the cost to the consumer comes in when additional storage becomes necessary, or the need for additional (premium) features. Rather than charge high prices for CD-based applications which you can only legally load on one or two personal computers, these new services charge for the storage of your documents on their servers. And the costs are a lot less than a typical office suite -- most consumers will be able to recoup the costs easily because these applications, along with their documents, will be available anywhere; there will be no need to buy multi-licensed versions of expensive software. The cost to these companies will level off, because while there will be folks that just use the bare essentials, there will be others who pony up the cash for extended storage or other features.

Is there a danger? Some folks will argue that "you're putting 'my personal documents' on the Internet, where anyone can access them." But, according to Michael Robertson, former MP3.COM CEO and former founder of Lindows/Linspire, that argument can be likened to the idea of putting your hard-earned money in a bank. With the right tools, people could access your money, so why not put it under a mattress in your home? It's safer, true... unless there was a catasphrope like a fire or flood. You could, in that case, suffer a horrible loss. Same idea with your personal documents - they're "safe" on your PC, but if your computer crashed, or hard drive suffered a malfunction that made your data inaccessible or irrecoverable, that may be just a horrible a loss. And, even if you had your important data/files backed up via an online storage service, you would still have to reconfigure your PC with the software necessary to open such files. The answer: by having your documents on the Internet, as well as the applications to access them, you're assured of availability; and to trust a company like AJAX13 to host your documents and related services is no different than trusting a reputable bank to safeguard your money.

*Why Mozilla Firefox? While Ajax promises to be truly cross-platform, it is currently centrally focused on one browser. That's not to say that Microsoft Internet Explorer (or Opera or Safari) won't work eventually. The current trend of Ajax-based applications are coded for Firefox, and since the browser is small, lightweight, and runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux, we at least have a form of cross-platform availability NOW. And coming soon, AjaxOS will be a Linux-based operating system that runs Ajax applications directly, to provide seamless integration between online and local/offline documents and data. The average user won't have to wonder about what software is on his or her computer; it will just work.

This is just the beginning. What the future holds is still anyone's guess but I am personally excited about the concept of run-from-anywhere applications. And I think people will accept the idea of keeping their personal documents online as long as they can be assured that their files are in a secure location. Nothing is perfect, but we are certainly getting close; and in this inter-connected world, with information and APPLICATION access being necessary for everyday business transactions, this seems to be the next logical step.

ADDENDUM - Brandon Watts at Lockergnome recently wrote an article about ThinkFree Online, which is currently in beta. The online service is a new offering for the company which also offers a Microsoft-compatible Office suite based on the Java platform. Similar to the services discussed above, Thinkfree Online offers a way to create full documents right in your browser, plus offers space in which to store them.

Article by Joseph Ruggiero, Jr.
June 8-9, 2006

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