Pender's Blog

Blog archive

Google Docs Opens Up

Google's online productivity suite isn't just a nifty little tool for storing documents and spreadsheets anymore. It's wide open now -- sort of.

Google revealed this week that Google Docs will now store more than just documents (we'd call them Word documents, but that's like saying "Kleenex" instead of "tissue") and spreadsheets. The online suite will now accept and store any type of file, including photos and the like.

It's kind of a mundane thing for now, and as the Wired story linked above indicates, the actual storage space offered is pretty disappointing: Google's giving up 1GB for free, with extra space going for $0.25 (or 25ยข -- the "cents" symbol is so underused these days) per GB per year. It's not a super-competitive offer at this point, but the opening of Google Docs looks like another step in Google's vision of crushing Microsoft Office and taking over the productivity-suite world.

Of course, it probably won't do that, as Office has a massive lead in market share and Microsoft (finally) has online Office offerings both available and in the works. But Google's move, and the moves competitors might make to counter it, could help hasten the (very slow) death of the PC hard drive and client-server model.

That's fine with us, actually, as we at RCPU already use Google Docs to back up files. The whole Google productivity thing needs to work better, though. Google's word processor is at about a 1999 level in comparison to Microsoft's whiz-bang (albeit bloated) Word 2007.

The battle for online-suite supremacy is going to be fought with small steps and mundane announcements such as this one, partly because this stuff is hard for vendors to set in motion and partly because users (and especially enterprises) are still getting used to the idea of actually using cloud technology for important purposes. It's all a trickle now, but cloud technology will eventually become a rushing river. A river of clouds. Or something like that. We'll keep working on our metaphors in the meantime.

What's your take on cloud computing and who's got the most to offer? Sound off at [email protected].

Posted by Lee Pender on January 14, 2010


Featured

  • IBM Giving Orgs a Governance Lifeline in Agentic AI Era

    Nearly overnight, organizations are facing brand-new challenges caused by self-directed AI systems (a.k.a. agentic AI). Big Blue is extending them some help.

  • Microsoft Launches Integrated E-mail Security Ecosystem for Defender for Office 365

    Microsoft is expanding its e-mail security capabilities with the launch of a new Integrated Cloud Email Security (ICES) ecosystem for Microsoft Defender for Office 365.

  • Microsoft Joins Workday's AI Agent Partner Network

    Microsoft has become a key partner in Workday's newly launched AI Agent Partner Network, aligning with other industry leaders to integrate AI agents into enterprise workforce systems.

  • LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky To Lead Microsoft's Productivity Initiatives

    In a strategic leadership realignment, Microsoft has appointed LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky to oversee its consumer and small business productivity software division, encompassing Microsoft 365, Teams and AI-driven tools like Copilot.