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 I am going to take a moment here and NOT talk about Intel, IBM, the Keynote speech or "The Switch".
[You may now cheer with unrestrained adulation]
Instead I am going to talk about a subject that has faded from the limelight in recent years, namely office productivity. Not a terribly exciting topic, I know, but I feel compelled to bring it up if for no other reason that I just can't force myself to write another "damn it, Apple has joined the darkside" article. So, lets begin.
Apple has an ugly little addiction that everyone knows about but no one really wants to deal with. That addiction? MS Office. Chances are very good that if you are typing a large document or using a spreadsheet then there is a little blue "W" on your dock and beside that is a little green "X".
Now, you might notice that I didn't mention anything about an orange "P". Mistake? Hardly. Ever since iWork Mac users have no need for Powerpoint - Keynote fills our needs quite nicely. But we need more. We want more.
I for one am sick of using Word. Lets face it, it's just not that good of a program. Out of its 56,000 features I think I use 18 of them. The other 55,982 features are just in my way and I want them gone. Or, better yet, I want Apple to create a really nice, office-oriented (as opposed to Pages which was publishing-oriented) word processor. And I want this soon because I am getting very tired of going through this:
[Me typing a document]
"Ok, now I just want to indent this one line and ahhhh, what happened?"
[Multiple lines indent]
[More frantic typing and clicking]
"There, back to where I was. Now I just start a new line and, what the *%$!@, I don't want bullets?"
[More typing more clicking more cursing]
[A freaking talking paper clip appears and wants to help me]
[Me screaming]
"I don't care how Bill likes his documents formatted I want to do this how I want it done. Ahhhhhh"
Net result: I use Text Edit to type a 14 page paper.
I am so very tired of doing that. I am fed up with opening Word for the first time and then having to go through and try and turn off all of the auto formatting, auto help, auto typing, auto complete, auto spacing, auto layout, aught to beat the crap out of the fool who thought this was a good idea, features.
Ok, they are no longer "features" when they actively prevent me from accomplishing my goal. To say the least I am sick of Word and thus whenever possible I refuse to use it entirely. This is the time when I want Apple to step up and add a few more apps to iWork to fix this glaring deficiency. They fired a shot across MS's bow with Keynote so now it is time to really throw the gauntlet down.
I want Jobs to take AppleWorks out behind the barn and put it out of its misery. I want him then to release a killer office suite so I will no longer be forced to use Microsoft's hideous software. And I want to finally be able to use a Mac that in entired free of the evil stench from Redmond.
Now, some of you might be saying that Excel is decent. And to that I suppose I must agree, it is passable. But I know Apple can do better. And I want Apple to do better. And most importantly I want to chuck MS Office in the nearest trash can so I can become productive once more.
So, if you are listening Steve, forget this whole "new architecture" thing you seem to be talking about so much. Instead, lets focus Apple's resources where it really counts, kicking MS to the curb. |
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June 13 2005, 9:40 AM EDT, by |
Comments:
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| Woo |
6/13/05, 9:56 AM EDT |
NeoOfficeJ? OpenOffice? Do you find these to be deficient?
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| jstoup |
6/13/05, 10:02 AM EDT |
Its not that they are bad they just aren't from Apple. And that is what I want. I want Apple's tight integration, I want their attention to detail, I want their style and design and ease of use to shine though on each feature.
The office suites you mentioned do a fine job, but really they are just a copy of MS Office. I don't want a copy I want something new.
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| pb |
6/13/05, 10:28 AM EDT |
If you are writing longer reports, you should look into LaTeX. Although admittedly it is for the more technically inclined, it is a very powerful tool. If you like programming, LaTeX is for you :)
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| DJLC |
6/13/05, 11:05 AM EDT |
What's wrong with TextEdit!? For doing some simple indented report or something - it's the best. It's only fault is no bullets.
And Jonahan, next time you want to indent that line - push the pretty little "Tab" key.
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| matty |
6/13/05, 11:12 AM EDT |
I enjoy working in TextEdit for it's simplicity. Or Stickies for it's floating or transparent windows. I don't have a printer so when I'm finished, I email and format on the PC I was going to print with. For things that need to be electronically submitted I print off formatted PDFs using NeoOffice.
To their credit though, I think the microsoft-mac people have done a great job of Remote Desktop Connection. I've found the program works like a charm (though Synergy is cooler when you can see the other winbox).
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| sb |
6/13/05, 11:57 AM EDT |
I agree that Apple needs to make there own office suite. But I dont see a direct replacement coming any time soon.
It seems if they went directly after MS that MS might just pull the plug on Mac Office. Then those that must have it in order to be compatible with office enviorments would be not have the option to use Macs anymore.
But I think after the Intel switch Apple could start making some serious headway.. especially if MS keeps having all these virus/spyware issue.. then when that iron is hot I think Apple will strike with their Office replacement. That way Apple computers will have had ample time to prove themselves in the corporate world.
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| Allen |
6/13/05, 2:13 PM EDT |
I dont want to use office, but I have no choice. Pages is just not an option for a student, and neither is text edit. Word's spell check is superior to text edit's and it is fine for spanish, french, italian, and many more. It has the necesary features that apple just lacks. However, it does a horrible job of getting them to you. APPLE HERE MY PLEA, give us the features of word, just do it Apple-style
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| whatsinaname9000 |
6/13/05, 6:27 PM EDT |
Call me a heathen, but I actually prefer Word. I'm just used to the interface - and not to mention the compatibility. For school 'n stuff, Word is still the best for my situation.
But yes, it does have some annoying features that should die. But if it wasn't annoying, it wouldn't be Micro$oft.
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| person |
6/13/05, 7:14 PM EDT |
I don't agree with everything said, but a nicely written article. Really.
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| Jonahan |
6/13/05, 8:51 PM EDT |
Hmmm, that about sums up most people's reactions to jstoup's fine articles :-p
I agree though, that Apple should come up with a Word replacement. I always wondered why Apple didn't create one first instead of something like Pages. Well, maybe it's a little clearer after the Wintel announcement... -if- Apple is really going to go for MS's jugular (juggler?) then they'll need replacements for Word and Excel. But it wouldn't have made sense to debut them just yet. If Apple does have them cooking in their labs, it would make sense they wouldn't release them until they were just about to drop the hammer and unleash a barrage of ads showing off OS X and mentioning the lack of spyware/viruses.
But I dunno, I hear some beer and fishsticks calling my name...
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| DJLC |
6/13/05, 9:23 PM EDT |
Mmmmm.... beer battered jugglers....
And a correction to my last comment - I said "Jonahan" when I should've said "Toupy" or "Toupster".
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| Tero |
6/15/05, 6:27 AM EDT |
Well, Apple took up KHTML previously from Linux/Unix/open source world and the results were good. So, why not take KDE's office suite as well, KOffice, and in similar fashion transform it into "Apple form" or something. It is still a sort of work in progress, but the foundations are there. It's very very tightly integrated, has smaller than other suites code base in similar fashion as KHTML had compared to Gecko from Mozilla project. It could be transformed as Apple Office or something like that. It also has somewhat apple type approach in many ways in it, for example the word processor KWord is fully frame based making it also suitable for some desktop publishing etc. stuff. All these aspects could be improved by Apple equally successfully as it worked with KDE people with KHTML.
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| dab2 |
6/15/05, 3:13 PM EDT |
Here, here! I have never agreed with you more, jstoup! Great article, and great sentiment.
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6/17/05, 2:38 AM EDT |
And Office on Mac is SLOW. All my apple programs play nicely together and take no more memory than necessary, but Office beachballs all the time, usually halfway through each sentence... Don't know why...
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| Ains |
6/17/05, 1:02 PM EDT |
Office doesn't like my mac much either. But then again, my ibook is only a couple million years old...
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| halfasemitone |
6/18/05, 9:51 PM EDT |
I'm a big audio guy and I am in transition from switching to Logic Pro7 to ProTools. I'm impressed with the way that Apple took Logic to the next level. ProTools went downhill in my opinion. Way better features and way better software set which totally adds to the value.
The reason why I mention audio is because jtsoup is right. Apple should step up and make an extremely powerful Office app set at a cost that blows other office software out of the water just like how they had Logic Pro 7 blow everyone out of the water.
jt is also right about the features in Word. One billion features..... hooray. Do they make me more productive. No. They are just filler to give a big number. Remember, the average person doesn't really know how to buy a computer so they like hearing the words "over one billion features". According to McDonalds there are over 90 billion served. There still 6 billion on earth right? It's like when people tell me about their music keyboards:
"I've got over 360 piano sounds!"
Congrats. You've got 360 [doodoo] ass piano sounds. All I need is one really good piano sound. I would rather pay for 3 extremely well sampled pianos instead of 360 One velocity zoned piano sounds.
To see Apple make an Office Suite that has the 3 tiered system like iMovie to Final Cut and Garage Band to Logic Pro would be awesome. I'm not a huge video guy but iMovie is a little small for me, FC Pro is too huge for me, Final Cut Express is juuuuuuuuuust right.
I always strive to be innovative like Apple. So if I can think of it, chances are, Apple has already done it and is coming out with it at the next expo.
Kick Axe jtsoup.
PS Apple works IS totally long in the tooth. RIP
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| jstoup |
6/18/05, 11:09 PM EDT |
->halfasemitone
Two things.
1. Great article, I agree with everything you said. Thanks for the ringing endorsement.
2. My name is jstoup not jtsoup. : )
But thanks for such a well thought out comment!
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| halfasemitone |
6/19/05, 11:15 AM EDT |
My apologies to JSTOUP not jtsoup. This was not a typo. This was me having a terrible monitor that's really blurry in the middle and the fact that I just plain read it wrong.
Again, sorry to jstoup for spelling your name wrong.
Cheers to great website!
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| jayson |
6/21/05, 5:29 PM EDT |
First, I just want to say I too wish it were possible for Apple to build a true word replacement.
However, this will never happen unless Apple was able to simultaneously gain the support of all business users. The fact is, unless Microsoft falls of the face of the earth, Apple cannot afford to compete in this arena. The first thing a switcher is going to ask is "Can I run office on a mac". When an apple rep says, no, "but Apple builds an Office-compatible word processor", that person will be gone in a heartbeat.
I'm not all that upset, however, as I really don't dislike word that much. Its much better than it is on a PC anyway. And who knows, with the intel switch we may be able to run office for windows which means Apple wouldn't have to worry about support issues
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| Akula |
6/29/05, 10:06 AM EDT |
You guys know that apple have trademarked the "Numbers" and that it is rumored that will be iWork's spreadsheet.
As for a word replacement, well Microsoft is opening up it's file formats for what I believe is reasonable fees, so I think that Apple may finally be able to build a compatable word processor should they wish.
I think sooner or later there will be an office compatable suite from apple, but I doubt they wish to tread on the fingers of microsoft yet, as for many people the lack of a professional office suite is a deal breaker.
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| indigocomputer |
7/1/05, 11:17 PM EDT |
The fact the OpenOffice.org is not from Apple is a GOOD THING. It's cross-platform, meaning you can share your OOo datafiles seamlessly with users of Linux, Windows, Mac, BeOS, and just about any other OS out there. It works great, and its free. Office can't do one-half what OOo does, and it can't do it nearly as well. www.openoffice.org
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