For all the hubbub about Web-based alternatives to Microsoft Office, surely someone is using them. Uh-Oh, surely not.
In a recent survey, NPD asked nearly 600 PC users: "Have you heard about online, browser-based office productivity applications like Google Docs, Google Spreadsheets, gOffice, etc.?" NPD also asked, "If so, how often do you use them?"
Ninety-four percent of US consumers have never heard of Web-based productivity suite alternatives. A mere 0.5 percent have substituted Web-based productivity suites for desktop software like Microsoft Office. Chris Swenson, NPD's director of Software Industry Analysis, described the 0.5 percent figure as being a "bit high." Swenson predicted worldwide usage to be even lower than the United States.
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