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Battle of the Virtual & Actual Desktop

As discussed in an earlier issue of the Viodi View, Google, Adobe and Microsoft are increasingly crowding into each other’s traditional spaces.   Recent product offerings from Google and Adobe provide more evidence of this trend.

Google documents are available now in both online and off-line versions.  They automatically synchronize to the online version and tracks revisions, just like the pure online documents have.   The following video shows how it works, although I can’t find the offline option in my Google documents account.  Maybe it will be there in a day or two. 

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/03/offline-access-to-google-docs.html

Built on the AIR and Flex platform, Adobe’s Buzzword is another new alternative and it seems to be very good with regards to layout, comment capability and formatting.  It also works in both online and offline modes, like the Google documents.  With Adobe’s announcement of an online, no-cost version of Photoshop, integration between text and print (and eventually video) may never be eaiser.

At the Spring 2008 VON Conference in San Jose, I saw a very impressive demonstration from Communigate that is also built on the Adobe Air and Flex programs.  Communigate replaces the Microsoft Exchange server and makes it real easy to drag and drop files between different social applications, such as Instant Messaging and photos.  Since, it is all integrated, it makes for a single log-in for multiple applications.   From my limited knowledge of this space, it looks like a much easier to use, more capable and lower cost solution than the traditional mail-server applications.

The real interesting thing is that the Adobe platform can work on Linux platforms.   Google’s product, based on Open Office, has the advantage of bundling spreadsheets and presentations and it should also work on Linux, although I haven’t confirmed my conjecture. 

Once these applications have grammar checking I would be all set, as it is one feature I need.  The other issue I have seen is formatting between Google Docs and Microsoft Office products.  I haven’t used Adobe’s Buzzword to understand whether formatting is an issue with their product. 

If these small inconveniences can be fixed, then there may be some viable alternatives to the Windows/Office monopoly.  

Author Ken Pyle, Managing Editor

By Ken Pyle, Managing Editor

Ken Pyle is Marketing Director for the Broadband Forum. The mission of this 25+-year-old non-profit “is to unlock the potential for new markets and profitable revenue growth by leveraging new technologies and standards in the home, intelligent small business, and multi-user infrastructure of the broadband network.”

He is also co-founder of Viodi, LLC and Managing Editor of the Viodi View, a publication focused on the rural broadband ecosystem, autonomous vehicles, and electric aviation. He has edited and produced numerous multimedia projects for NTCA, US Telecom and Viodi. Pyle is the producer of Viodi’s Local Content Workshop, the Video Production Crash Course at NAB, as well as ViodiTV. He has been intimately involved in Viodi’s consulting projects and has created processes for clients to use for their PPV and VOD operations, as well authored reports on the independent telco market.

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