by Seye Kuyinu
For those who, like me, have been patiently waiting for the launch of the Google OS, hope has just been renewed. Last Thursday, Google announced their new product – Google Cloud Connect.
If you are familiar with Google Docs, this should be to you a somewhat offline version of Google Docs.
Google Cloud Connect is a free plugin that improves Microsoft Office 2003, 2007 and 2010 on Windows PCs. It adds simultaneous collaboration, revision history, cloud sync, unique URLs and simple sharing to the Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint applications.
In essence, you can launch your Microsoft Word at the same time with someone else, and both of you can work on the same file at the same time as if you’re on the same computer and the same application!
Let’s say I’m editing a PowerPoint presentation, and I need input from my team. With Cloud Connect, the edits I make are ‘synced’ to the cloud, making them easy to share. With Google Cloud Connect, you also get access to every revision to the document you’re working with, and if you get disconnected from the internet as you are editing a document; as soon as you get re-connected, your document is synced with the Google Cloud.
With this product, the hassle of sending attachments back and forth, as well as checking and cross-checking edits is reduced to zero.
As TechCrunch rightly said:
“Google’s long-term strategy seems to be to supplant Microsoft by first building the best browser, then making it easy to move your files to Google Docs … and finally, slowly but inexorably, making Windows and Office irrelevant. Obviously no one will abandon Microsoft products wholesale anytime soon; but as cloud computing grows more ubiquitous, Google steadily iterates feature after feature, and people grow accustomed to working in the browser, then one day, maybe only a couple of years from now, a whole lot of people – and businesses – will begin to think to themselves ‘Hey, we haven’t actually needed Windows or Office in months. Why do we even have them at all?’”
With competition comes improvements. I believe Google is giving a whole lot of others a stiff chase. But then, that's how innovation starts.
At this rate, I feel for Microsoft Windows. I'm guessing they see this assumed plan of Google and will begin making schemes to outdo it. 🙂 Everyone needs to be in business, and all need keep innovating in order to do so. Have JOY