The First Real Web-Based Word Processor
I've been aware of Rick Treitman's Virtual Ubiquity from the beginning, but after seeing the latest demo at Adobe Engage, I'm blown away by how far it's come.
Rick, who Boston-area readers probably remember as the long-time proprietor of tech bookstore Softpro, was at a meeting we'd organized several years ago for our retailers. I happened to give a talk about technology trends, with a focus on Web 2.0 and the coming internet platform.
Rick said, "Holy sh*t. Every time there's a platform transition, there's a changing of the guard in applications as well." He sold his store and got back into the software business. (Before starting Softpro, he'd been running Lotus' word processing efforts, so he decided to get the band back together to take another run at it. And what a run.)
This is a REALLY sweet word processor. It's got amazing typography, pagination, resizing and reflowing, all in Flash (and Apollo, for offline use.) Unlike Google Docs, this isn't a lightweight word processor. It may well just be the slickest word processor I've seen anywhere. Nice work, Rick! (It would also be a killer blog front end, as Robert Scoble noted in the Q&A.) Rick titled his presentation "The First Real Web-Based Word Processor" and if the reality lives up to the demo, I think he may not have to eat his words.
Wait eagerly for this to come out of alpha!
tags: web 2.0
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Comments: 77
Hi Tim, you should take a look at Inet Word (http://www.inetword.com). My friend Tom Snyder (ex-Microsoft) has spent the last two years building it.
Jeff - I looked at inetword (mostly because I thought it was a great domain name for an online Word Processor). But I have to register to try it. That's bad. http://lagesse.org/index.php/2007/02/27/inetword-editor/
I don't have the time, or desire to register for things just to see what they look like.
Rob
How is this a "web-based word processor"? Because some people have a (closed source, proprietary binary blob) plugin that happens to run in some graphical browsers on some platforms?
If it were implemented as a Java applet, would you still call it a "web-based word processor"?
Where's the "web" in that?
I guess we'll have to take your word for it - the web page has one meager graphic, no indication of features, and little information. And the pedigree of running Lotus' word processing efforts isn't impressive - Ami was a POS - I knew people who wouldn't give up Wordstar and Displaywrite when given the mandate to do so. Your product really sucks when people prefer a 15 year old product that offers the functionality of a 1970s typewriter.
Perhaps if this product actually follows the conventions of the operating system (works like every other product rather than reinventing every 3rd UI convention like Lotus Notes does) it might worth considering.
I'll check back in a couple of years when there is some real information rather than a vague review.
Hi,
I'm interested in internet-based word processors as a front end to blogs/wikis so found this article interesting. Thanks! I also followed the link to iNetWord. Perhaps because of your complaint about needing to register (or perhaps coincidence), it seems that you no longer need to register to have a look. FYI.
Eric
Mark -- I'm curious. Do you consider the iTunes music store a web application? For that matter, if open source is the test of something being a web app, just about everything fails, since most web apps--whether google, yahoo!, flickr, deli.cio.us, digg--don't open source their server side code, and most people interact with them via the closed source IE browser.
Meanwhile, flash, which you decry as "a closed source, proprietary binary blob" has actually contributed their rendering engine to Firefox.
Things are rarely black and white, and those who see them as such miss a lot of interesting color.
This reminds me somewhat of what happened with mainframes. I wasn't around then, but know my history and did interact with one of those systems once. The systems got more and more complex, and the applications people wanted to run more and more complex so they pushed more and more out to the dumb terminal (which today is the web browser) until the terminal evolved a step change.
I get the feeling that rather than the beginning of something new, this sort of thing signifies the end of one era before something new takes over. (If in the 70s the dumb terminal was a just a dumb piece of hardware which then led to the rich client PC, the web browser - including todays flash based systems - are just the dumb terminals of today.)
Other than that though, nice screen shot (can't say much else since its a closed alpha) I'll be cuious as to how well it works - I've been using dojo toolkit for a while for rich client side editting, but it's designed for HTML generation not word processing.
Actually, that said, maybe that's what flash has been all along, a latent non-dumb terminal just waiting to step forward...
Neil -- sorry that there's nothing to look at. I am hoping to get into the closed alpha myself, and if I do, I'll try to get permission to give some more details. But I don't think the post is pointless. Jeff Barr pointed us to inetword, for example, in the comments, and it alerted a bunch of people to a new app that they will now be looking for. It would certainly be better to be able to post when the app is available, but early notice can be useful for starting discussion, and getting people in the queue for access when the open beta starts.
Tim, where does the incredibly capable Thinkfree Office online fall into this? I've moved the majority of my personal productivity app use off the desktop, and into this office suite. I would say that if we're talking plug-in-based productivity apps, the Thinkfree guys have this thing beat by a long shot.
I've got some screenshots of the application on my ZDNet blog - http://blogs.zdnet.com/Stewart/?p=292
> Mark -- I'm curious. Do you consider the iTunes music store a web application?
No. As I have said before (about iPhoto, but it works just as well about iTunes): "They [Apple] view the web as an annoyingly inadequate infrastructure on which to build their latest proprietary network, in much the same way that old-school web designers view HTML as an annoyingly inadequate page layout language." [ context: http://www.intertwingly.net/blog/2006/01/18/Photocasting-Hyperbole#c1137652173 ]
> For that matter, if open source is the test of something being a web app, just about everything fails,
Nope, not open source. Open standards. Web standards.
> since most web apps--whether google, yahoo!, flickr, deli.cio.us, digg--don't open source their server side code, and most people interact with them via the closed source IE browser.
Irrelevant, see above.
> Meanwhile, flash, which you decry as "a closed source, proprietary binary blob" has actually contributed their rendering engine to Firefox.
No they haven't. They've contributed some of their JavaScript parsing code to Firefox. See http://www.mozilla.org/projects/tamarin/faq.html
> Things are rarely black and white, and those who see them as such miss a lot of interesting color.
I have no problem with people who make interesting things in Flash. But they're not building "web-based word processors."
And you never answered my question about Java (which will soon be GPL, and there are multiple VM implementations, and that *still* doesn't make it "web-based").
Tim, Adobe has not "contributed their rendering engine to Firefox." They contributed Tamarin, their JavaScript VM, which has nothing to do with rendering. It is actually against the Flash specification license to implement a Flash rendering engine.
Sorry Chris, my bad. You're right. It was their actionscript vm, not the rendering engine. Bad idea to post a response in a hurry.
Have you guys checked outzoho ? I've heard about the product a lot and took a small test drive this morning. It requires a login, you can use the one I created
username : testzoho
password : ohoz
It has SSO for all its services and its web 2.0...
-Senthil
Interesting article not much deeper informations about the "First Real Web-Based Word Processor" but you have my attention. it sounds really good and i would like to here (and see) more of it. when you have more informations for us? closed beta at interesting stuff allways suck.
Would like to be well informed about that when there will be a release. I hope you to us inform. Thanks for news.
oh come on Tim give us a little bit more than that. i`m amazed about the topic but i miss more informations, i want to read more abot it so when you have an update for us?
@mosh: and what do you want to translate? that there is nothing to write about at time or that you have good backlink now from Tim`s site? tzzz
@Tim: a really interesting topic but please let me know if you have more informations i think i`am at the right source here. cannot wait to get more of it.
I think the post is not absolutly pointless, there is of course not many "indeep" informations but i`m interested in the topic and like to hear that there is something going on ... but what exactly we will see in future (i hope near future). thanks tim for the hint.
Regarding SaaS Applications, there is an important need of protecting personal data. I think storing and editing personal and business data is a risk for people and companys.
In my opinion it's very important to protect personal data. So this application is only a nice tool to play a while and not to work with it!
Would like to be well informed about that when there will be a release. I’ve seen so far.
A clean new interface that’s better than Word, universal access via the net and offline access thanks to Apollo. I think applications like this will get more and more important in future!
@Palma
Lol, yes its very intresting article... nc
@Tim
we still waitng... let us know if you have more informations
mosh: and what do you want to translate? that there is nothing to write about at time or that you have good backlink now from Tim`s site
I also followed the link to iNetWord. Perhaps because of your complaint about needing to register (or perhaps coincidence), it seems that you no longer need to register to have a look.
From my experience the documents are "trickled" up to the server as you edit it. You'll also have the option to save locally. The software is itself saved locally, transparently to the user. When Adobe's Apollo ships, you'll be able to work offline.
This is the online demo and video showing the full features of the application.
blog.virtub.com/?p=15
I completely agree what Datenschutz said.
Storing and editing personal and business data is a risk, especially if you're running an online store. You can't just store your customer's credit card information, it's violating the terms.
How is this a web-based word processor? Because some people have a (closed source, proprietary binary blob) plugin that happen to run in some graphical browsers on some platforms?
I can't imagine using an online word processor to get my work done. Even Microsoft's new online tools don't impress me all that much, personally I use open office and think it is a better word processor that ms word.
I'm using Google docs, but you are right, Tim, it is really lightweight and sometimes I needed a little bit more options than it could give me. Is Alpha version already present?
I think in the future there will be more and more apollo applications like these, this is real web 2.0
I'll have to give that a try. I've been using Zoho Writer and it works well, but I'm always up for something better.
This subject is still urgent for all of us. Guys any links where can we test it?
Haven't really considered online an online publisher before. This Virtual Ubiquity looks good, are there any others worth a mention?
This looks like a great utility. I signed up for an invite and hope to get it soon!
I witnessed Virtual Ubiquity’s presentation some months back at a Web Innovators meeting. The application and the thought process behind it were very impressive, but that was back in April and I have yet to see anything other than buzz.
If it can truly work as intended, it stands a good chance of supplanting the current commercial offerings, but I still think that the audience will be limited to early adopters. That being said, I’m prejudiced against flash/flex.
I don't see why people would bother with online solutions to word processing or any form of publishing activity when it can be done just as easily and more importantly a lot more faster & secure off-line.
I witnessed Virtual Ubiquity’s presentation some months back at a Web Innovators meeting.
In my opinion it's very important to protect personal data. So this application is only a nice tool to play a while and not to work with it!
It's got to be open source for me. I want a script I can put on my server. Modular please, so I can add spreadsheets and other apps.
What blows me away is that non of these apps allows saving to another ftp/webdav server. saving locally defeats the purpose of an online editor (access anywhere those of you who don't get why online). And don't you want to save things on your cloud rather than google/zoho/thinkfree's.
These things should have a nice unified front end (operating system?) be modular so I can add just the one's I want to my server. And have a file system access to whatever file server I chose.
Zoho is a great example of apps.
I also followed the link to iNetWord. Perhaps because of your complaint about needing to register (or perhaps coincidence), it seems that you no longer need to register to have a look.
I prefer open office instead of microsoft products. I am following all developments about word processors.
Well I have to say, that also from my experience the documents are "trickled" up to the server as you edit it. Locally saving is also in my opinion another good solution...
I've been following the progress of Virtual Ubiquity pretty closely . They have just flicked the switch on Preview 4 of Buzzword. You can now import and export Word 2003 Docs in XML format. I think this is the tipping point in functionality for the wider community to realise these guys are hot property.
The most powerful word processor systems can produce any arbitrary combination of images, graphics and text with full type-setting capability and even enable users to employ styles, which are used to automate consistent formatting of text such as body, titles, subtitles, highlighed text, and so on.
The need for Word Processors
-Spell checking can eliminate typing mistakes in created content
-Full WYSIWYG editing can enable faster end-document creation
-In-content image placement can allow faster comprehension of content
-A good word processor increases speed and efficiency of content creation
This would be a wonderful evolutionary step for personal computer users. I don't know and don't care what OS my telephone uses. I want to pick up the handset, push some buttons and have it work. Basic computer software should be just as easy.
I was able to also open an OpenOffice.org formatted .sxw and .odt files, though both ended up as center justified. I hope they will be able to add this bit of functionality, as well as writing those file types as well. Not sure what the business model is or if there is a way it can be license, I can think of several intranet projects I work on that I would like to embed this technology.
I get the feeling that rather than the beginning of something new, this sort of thing signifies the end of one era before something new takes over. (If in the 70s the dumb terminal was a just a dumb piece of hardware which then led to the rich client PC, the web browser - including todays flash based systems - are just the dumb terminals of today.)
Would like to be well informed about that when there will be a release. I hope you to us inform. Thanks for news.
I can't imagine using an online word processor to get my work done. Even Microsoft's new online tools don't impress me all that much, personally I use open office and think it is a better word processor that ms word.
Will Microsoft have a Web-based Office suite within a year?
My latest oreilly column is a potential doozy: Microsoft is leaping into hosted applications big time. InformationWeek reports that Microsoft plans to offer hosted implementations of SharePoint, CRM and ERP applications. But the best quote in that article...
I can't imagine using an online word processor to get my work done. Even Microsoft's new online tools don't impress me all that much, personally I use open office and think it is a better word processor that ms word.
I guess we'll have to take your word for it - the web page has one meager graphic, no indication of features, and little information.. thanks
In terms of utilizing the web for collaborating on documents, Web-Based Word Processor gives granular control over whether contributors can share, make comments, and write to a document. The commenting structure is rather nice.
I can't imagine using an online word processor to get my work done. Even Microsoft's new online tools don't impress me all that much, personally I use open office and think it is a better word processor that ms word.
Jeff - I looked at inetword (mostly because I thought it was a great domain name for an online Word Processor). But I have to register to try it. That's bad. http://lagesse.org/index.php/2007/02/27/inetword-editor/
These things should have a nice unified front end (operating system?) be modular so I can add just the one's I want to my server. And have a file system access to whatever file server I chose.
Would like to be well informed about that when there will be a release. I hope you to us inform. Thanks for news
What blows me away is that non of these apps allows saving to another ftp/webdav server. saving locally defeats the purpose of an online editor (access anywhere those of you who don't get why online). And don't you want to save things on your cloud rather than google/zoho/thinkfree's.
I witnessed Virtual Ubiquity’s presentation some months back at a Web Innovators meeting..
I've been following the progress of Virtual Ubiquity pretty closely . They have just flicked the switch on Preview 4 of Buzzword. You can now import and export Word 2003 Docs in XML format. I think this is the tipping point in functionality for the wider community to realise these guys are hot property
Would like to be well informed about that when there will be a release. I hope you to us inform. Thanks for news
Well again, I have to say, that also from my experience the documents are "trickled" up to the server as you edit it. Locally saving is also in my opinion another good solution...
Would be a wonderful evolutionary step for personal computer users. I don't know and don't care what OS my telephone uses. I want to pick up the handset, push some buttons and have it work. Basic computer software should be just as easy.
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Chris M [02.27.07 05:41 PM]
Ah, I hate reading about closed betas.