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Microsoft Word, RIP: 1983 - 2009 | |
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| Time: 09:01 EST/14:01 GMT | News Source: Ars Technica | Posted By: Andre Da Costa | ||
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Ars writer Jeremy Reimer contemplates the life and times of Microsoft Word, the reasons it has endured for so long, and its (lack of?) prospects in a post-print, wiki-based world. | ||
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| #1 By 89249 (64.207.240.90) at 8/3/2009 9:33:01 AM |
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This article should read "ArsTechinica.com RIP: 2009"
First off, again another hippy article claiming to be fighting against those who think they are more important than you. Funny enough I'd categorize most writers for ars to be in that league these days. What world does this guy live in? "people will just have to deal with the ugly complexities of translating Word's complicated document format into manageable XML or other interchange formats" What IT guys or contractors out there have walked into one of your customer or bosses offices with them steaming mad in near tears saying "PLEASE MR. IT GUY I MUST FIND A WAY TO CHANGE THIS OFFICE DOCUMENT TO AN OPEN XML STANDARD... M$ HAS TRAPPED ME... HAAAALP!" Honestly, the average user and even many power users don't give a hoot about it. This just in most word processing engines can import others and not only that but most provide free viewers. "This led to a few people becoming very concerned about Microsoft's stranglehold on the word processing market" When's the last time you showed up for happy hour and you ask your bro "Hey how's it going" and his response was "Dude M$ just owns the word processor market... we gotta figure out how to fix this." Who else just laughed? There have been plenty of free or paid alternatives if you just want to "Print something out" to give it to "someone more important than me." People don't just shell out the money for word because they are a) packed with an extra chromosome or b) worried about that gun pressed to their temple. Then we have: "Word format was a big binary blob, a sort of memory dump of whatever Word happened to be thinking about at the time... Despite the fact that all the makers of competing word processors had managed to do a passable job of converting .doc files for years" Gotta love how all of those companies have geniuses who can figure out those binary blobs of mess word has produced to make them importable. Now if your mind isn't now hemorrhaging through each of your orifices prepare for the deepest statement in this article. "Now, consider that Outlook uses Word as the default editor for email and think about just how silly this all is." I hope you guys have an I.V. Drip with some O- on standby cause if you didn't you may want to rush to the ER after being served up that deep thought. Tired old crap from ars... queue up the next "music should be free" "movie formats are dumb" "patents are going to ruin us all" "fair use is the answer to all problems" article. |
| #2 By 2960 (72.196.201.130) at 8/3/2009 10:30:28 AM |
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While I agree that the word processor is far from dead, and Word is probably safe in the Corporate market, I think all other markets are RIPE for a small, fast, lean word processor.
Think "WriteNow For Macintosh". Anyone who owned a Mac back in the 80s/early 90s knows what I'm talking about. There just ain't nothing better than a major application writtin in 100% assembly language. WriteNow was a real sweetie of an app. It really was. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WriteNow |
| #3 By 23275 (24.196.4.141) at 8/3/2009 10:42:28 AM |
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#1, Smolderingly good post!
<short version: take a bath and shaddup> #2, Windows Live Writer is quite nice and free. |
| #4 By 89249 (64.207.240.90) at 8/3/2009 10:55:53 AM |
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Def TL. I remember yappin with one of my bro's a while back "Word is too expensive" his response to my questions "How do you figure?" "Cause I just want something to write letters or lists and stuff" Even back then I told him to use Wordpad his response "But it can't do everything words does"
Basically, the fix to what this dude is talking about, simply writing stuff down and turning it in, is wordpad or its cohorts. Plenty of things out there that fit that bill *cough google apps*. If you really want to use a word processor for what its for Word is still the best hands down. And to all those who say "Word is so expensive its dumb and you should use something free." Here's some schoolin for ya. Full Retail price of MS Word 2007 on amazon is ~$160 ( http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-059-05468-Word-2007/dp/B000HCZ8GW/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1249314856&sr=8-5 ) Now lets say you use that copy for 3 years (which is a low estimate for an average user) Spread the cost of that software over those 3 years and you are paying $1 a week for that software. If you can't find a single dollar of value per week of the software you should really not be buying it. |
| #5 By 89249 (64.207.240.90) at 8/3/2009 10:59:48 AM |
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P.S. Long Live Bankstreet Writer!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_Street_Writer |
| #6 By 13997 (68.118.60.33) at 8/3/2009 3:34:14 PM |
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This article is freaking insane at best or illustrative of pure stupidity.
The author has virtually no clue of the features of Word or why people use Word. It is sad to see that site go to hell. *Ripping it from daily tech news favorites folder. Ars, meet my Recycle Bin* |
| #7 By 54556 (68.35.10.96) at 8/3/2009 10:40:48 PM |
| Talking about getting ones undies in a bunch....lol |
| #8 By 29664 (97.118.118.151) at 8/3/2009 10:50:46 PM |
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#5
OMG the memories. you just blew my day away |
| #9 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 8/4/2009 10:04:46 AM |
| Hmm, one guy says he doesn't need Word anymore and the microbots are up in arms with outrage. "How dare you not need Word anymore!", they thundered. Meanwhile, the rest of the world could get by with OpenOffice Writer quite nicely if they but tried. The microbots know this, and they are prepared with a distraction: "OpenOffice?? LOLZ It doesn't even have the new Office 2010 feature, Save As ASCII Art. What a joke!". This used to work in the old days, but the office suite has sufficiently evolved to the point of being a commodity and nobody uses the new features that were only added to justify a new version. |
| #10 By 23275 (24.196.4.141) at 8/4/2009 10:57:56 AM |
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Yes, exactly Latch. All people who find collaborating using very rich visual information as opposed to simple texts are "Microbots"
There is no benefit at all to interactive visual information and it in no way makes complex information products easier to use. And nothing is supposed to advance, or become more useful and practical. Everything is to become deprecated and we'll all eat boiled potatoes and rubbery chicken - so we won't appear to be MS sycophants. Everything we do should be really hard... you know... so regular people won't even try it... and it will all be left to the "experts" who really know what good software is all about... BS! People are practical. They want to get their points across and communicate ideas and information effectively. They'll use the software that makes that possible, easy and enjoyable and they won't give a hoot if you think they are "Microbots." |
| #11 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 8/4/2009 12:18:38 PM |
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#10: Oh geez, you've got enough strawmen here to fill a hay wagon.
All people who find collaborating using very rich visual information as opposed to simple texts are "Microbots" No, 'microbots" might define people who are always pro-Microsoft, who rant about someone's choice to not use a particular MS product, slagging the character of said person and even the website where the original post came from. And nothing is supposed to advance, or become more useful and practical. Everything is to become deprecated and we'll all eat boiled potatoes and rubbery chicken - so we won't appear to be MS sycophants. If I do not fully embrace Microsoft, that means I want to go back to stone knives and bearskins? Really? BS! People are practical. They want to get their points across and communicate ideas and information effectively. They'll use the software that makes that possible, easy and enjoyable and they won't give a hoot if you think they are "Microbots." And if they want to do all this without Microsoft, then suddenly they don't know what they're talking about, they have an evil agenda, they write for crap websites, or they're just summarily dismissed with a churlish "take a bath and shaddup". Good to know. |
| #12 By 23275 (24.196.4.141) at 8/4/2009 12:40:41 PM |
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Latch, if they want to do all this without Microsoft software, they are welcome to do so.
You mentioned so much - but not once have you defined what people could use - remember, platform rules apply... so simply saying: "Use OO" isn't sufficient, because it well... isn't sufficient. Come back when you have a platform and people of every stripe can use it as well as they can Microsoft's. Until then, you'll do as I suspect and offer nothing but empty rhetoric based upon a bankrupt ideology - you can't hate your way to success. |
| #13 By 15406 (216.191.227.68) at 8/4/2009 1:13:05 PM |
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#12: Latch, if they want to do all this without Microsoft software, they are welcome to do so.
Yes, and be ridiculed by you and your cabal. You mentioned so much - but not once have you defined what people could use I believe I mentioned OO Writer, but most word processors will do the job these days. remember, platform rules apply... so simply saying: "Use OO" isn't sufficient, because it well... isn't sufficient. Um, what?! Which "platform rules" are you referring to, and why would I need to follow any contrived rules to suggest an alternate, effective word processor? I suspect that you're trying to frame the discussion along the lines of enterprise usability, but I have news for you: most people who use a word processor don't give a rat's ass about enterprise configurations. Not everyone lives in a skyscraper; not everyone drives an aircraft carrier. Your attempts to portray anything other than Word as unsuitable because they don't offer the same features in all areas is a red herring. The fact that you & MS are trying to hide is that alternative word processors can do everything Word can do for 95% of the users out there. You only ever think in the context of the business user. I prefer to think in the context of the user. Come back when you have a platform and people of every stripe can use it as well as they can Microsoft's. Ah, there's the rub: 95% of users can already use alternatives as well as they can use Word because they use a subset of features that are common to both apps. You say come on back when OO (for example) can do every single last thing that Word can do. I say nobody needs to wait as OO can do most of what Word can do and almost all of what most users want from it. |
| #14 By 89249 (64.207.240.90) at 8/4/2009 5:02:24 PM |
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#9 "Hmm, one guy says he doesn't need Word anymore and the microbots are up in arms with outrage."
Latch by that logic we should never respond to any "article" about a product written from the first person... Guess 75% of Linux articles are now rendered useless and unimportant. |
| #15 By 28801 (65.90.202.10) at 8/4/2009 7:57:32 PM |
| Office is one application in Microsoft's portfolio that has real cachet. The ribbon seems like Apple's creation rather than Microsoft's. In comparison, Open Office looks like it was made over a decade ago and seems more akin to MS Works than MS Office. Though these suites share 90% of the same functionality, as we have seen with Macs, perception goes a long way towards sales. I think, for now, we can hold off the burial ceremony for Office. However, if the grave is already dug I'm sure the Zune would fit nicely. |
| #16 By 2960 (72.196.201.130) at 8/5/2009 1:04:20 PM |
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My first word processor was SuperScripsit on the TRS-80 Model 1 :)
I don't think I've seen a "Main Menu" on a word processor since. TL |
| #17 By 28801 (65.90.202.10) at 8/5/2009 3:05:56 PM |
| I spoke too soon. I just saw the HD Zune and it will give the iPod some competition. MS just needs an app store comparable to Apple's, and no DRM. |
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