What is your thoughts on the iPad suite from Microsoft ?

[Shezif]

Doesn't apple kind of do this too though with their proprietary hardware, software and App Store?

have you thought otherwise?

 

[Diane B]

Just an aside..... Cecil, I'm a longtime user of Photoshop but Lightroom too since Vs. 1 beta. I've chosen to stick with PS6 and will continue to but Lightroom doesn't require you to buy the subscription and I now use it a lot more than PS (which I use primarily for layers). I suspect that they may stick to the "no subs" for LR--hoping anyhow.

 

[twerppoet]

Of course! That is the only way for corporations like Microsoft to earn your money.
Modern slavery...

Doesn't apple kind of do this too though with their proprietary hardware, software and App Store?

There is very little in this world that has only an up side or down side. And it is always possible to assign a evil motivation to the downside. I'm not really trying to suggest either Microsoft or Apple are not aware of the consequences of their choices, or even that they don't approve. It would, however, be a mistake to suggest they do things for no other reason than to eke out all the profits they can get. Despite the common believe that powerful companies can get away with this, history has proven it false. This kind of attitude always lands a company in debt eventually. Alternatives will arrive, and people are not stupid. At least over the long haul.

{in an open market with reasonable government regulation}

So what reasons could they have, what benefits are they offering that can make lock-in worth it?

In Apple's case it's security and convenience. Their near totalitarian control of the eco system means malware is nearly non-existant in the App Store. Their leverage with the media companies means the selection is terrific, and if not the best prices then at least competitive. There are other lesser benefits that I'm not going to delve into right now.

For MS Office it is the massive amount of collaboration, support, and a good deal; almost all of it pointed at the large business. For the personal user the Office 365 seems like a waste of money. They don't need to collaborate much beyond sharing a document. Support is someone you might call once a year (unless the products sucks, which MS Office does not). And the pricing is comparable, if not better, than when they had to buy and install physical media. Especially for those businesses that wanted to stay up to date. That's been totally wiped out with this model. They will always be up to date, as long as they continue to subscribe.

This is why I say that MS Office (and even Office 365) is a boon for those that need everything it offers.

Why it is a questionably purchase, mostly a matter of a subjective comparison of worth, utility, and taste for those who need moderate Office compatibility.

Why it is too much for those who need a word processor that will create a pretty document.

And why it, and any word processor, is a hinderance if you all you want is formatted text that you can move around easily.


Big companies are not, for long, just mega-evil money makers. They are also not altruists. Any for-profit company that tries to be either fails in the long run. People will only put up with the first for so long. The second kills itself.

So, the take away?

Trusting, implicitly, a large company is foolish. Even if you love their products. They should have to prove and keep proving that their products are worth your time and money. You should not consider your investment in that product and it's eco system as separate things.

By the same token demonizing companies is counter productive. Make them provide something you want/or and need on terms you can accept, but calling them 'evil' is as pointless as calling a wolf or tiger evil, just because it's nature is to eat what it can catch.

 

[manojpatidar]

No,

I think it's available for the Israeli store .

 

[s2mikey]

There is very little in this world that has only an up side or down side. And it is always possible to assign a evil motivation to the downside. I'm not really trying to suggest either Microsoft or Apple are not aware of the consequences of their choices, or even that they don't approve. It would, however, be a mistake to suggest they do things for no other reason than to eke out all the profits they can get. Despite the common believe that powerful companies can get away with this, history has proven it false. This kind of attitude always lands a company in debt eventually. Alternatives will arrive, and people are not stupid. At least over the long haul. {in an open market with reasonable government regulation} So what reasons could they have, what benefits are they offering that can make lock-in worth it? In Apple's case it's security and convenience. Their near totalitarian control of the eco system means malware is nearly non-existant in the App Store. Their leverage with the media companies means the selection is terrific, and if not the best prices then at least competitive. There are other lesser benefits that I'm not going to delve into right now. For MS Office it is the massive amount of collaboration, support, and a good deal; almost all of it pointed at the large business. For the personal user the Office 365 seems like a waste of money. They don't need to collaborate much beyond sharing a document. Support is someone you might call once a year (unless the products sucks, which MS Office does not). And the pricing is comparable, if not better, than when they had to buy and install physical media. Especially for those businesses that wanted to stay up to date. That's been totally wiped out with this model. They will always be up to date, as long as they continue to subscribe. This is why I say that MS Office (and even Office 365) is a boon for those that need everything it offers. Why it is a questionably purchase, mostly a matter of a subjective comparison of worth, utility, and taste for those who need moderate Office compatibility. Why it is too much for those who need a word processor that will create a pretty document. And why it, and any word processor, is a hinderance if you all you want is formatted text that you can move around easily. Big companies are not, for long, just mega-evil money makers. They are also not altruists. Any for-profit company that tries to be either fails in the long run. People will only put up with the first for so long. The second kills itself. So, the take away? Trusting, implicitly, a large company is foolish. Even if you love their products. They should have to prove and keep proving that their products are worth your time and money. You should not consider your investment in that product and it's eco system as separate things. By the same token demonizing companies is counter productive. Make them provide something you want/or and need on terms you can accept, but calling them 'evil' is as pointless as calling a wolf or tiger evil, just because it's nature is to eat what it can catch.

Very well said, twerp. My reply to the other posters comment was just to say that Microsoft isn't the only company that wants you to be "in" their ecosystem or whatever it is we call it when you have time and money invested in a certain companies products.

So far, office is doing well and that's ultimately a good thing for us since it means the other office apps have to stay as good or get better. Fine with me.

 

[ardchoille]

But $100 per year might be a bit too stiff for casual users, when there are free alternatives that offer enough of the basic functions to satisfy most folks' needs.

This post handcrafted from 100 percent post-consumer recycled electrons.

For a Microsoft product, I wouldn't even pay $10 per year.

 

[iJamesH]

I use CloudOn for my Office needs so i don't need this at all.

 

[golddust34]

First of all, you have to already be using Office 365 which costs about $100 annually. I'll stick to the free Kingsoft (both on my pc and my iPad).

 

[golddust34]

Downloaded that but haven't tried it yet. What's you opinion?

 

[Wasonever]

Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel now available for iPad. Haven't tried it yet, but will be interesting to see how it compares to Google Apps on the iPad. $100 price tag to edit these documents is definitely a minus!

 

[col.bris]

Actually it is $100 per year every 365 days you pay Microsoft .