From ReadWriteWeb:
On Monday Google released a relatively minor, but useful, feature. It’s worth examining a bit more closely, because it’s yet another signal that Google is quietly pecking away at Microsoft’s lunch in office software. Now I know that Microsoft Office has a lot of advanced functionality that the online office apps don’t have, but hear me out…
I don’t think the current Google apps pose any immediate threat to the MS Office Suite… actually, I wouldn’t even consider it as a competitor right now or in the future. Microsoft apps offer more functionality BY FAR — plus, they keep throwing in new features! And at $150-$200 for the entire suite, it’s not too pricey either. If both Microsoft and Google were gunning for the high school/college market, I could see a competitive advantage for Google. Then again, that particular market tends to “borrow” software, anyway, so I’m not sure if that would matter in the end. Is the “Google document” (What’s that gonna be? A .googdoc? Ha!) a sly move? Definitely. Will it do much? I doubt it, unless the entire country of China decided to switch overnight. Honestly, this would be a more thrilling discussion if Google were to take on Adobe’s or Softimage’s product line. If you could save everyone $2,100 on this package, you could start a movement.
There are numerous examples (read the Innovators Dilemma) of disruptive technology that creeps in from the fringes only to completely take over the primary market in the next transition. Whether it is Google or someone else, this shift is as inevetable as the response: the entrenched leader will focus on the higher end of the market until that segment, too, falls to the innovator. It may take a while, but it is happening.
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Google appears to be diversifying the projects and attacking all different facets of the computer industry. Over a year ago they produced Picasa which some see as the growing replacement to Photoshop. The Google docs is attacking Microsoft. Maybe the next thing that Google comes out with something that does powerpoint. Nobody really knows but if googles builds out their products really well and offers them for free, who are we too complain.
No way! You did not just compare Picasa to Photoshop. That’s like saying Notepad can be seen as the growing replacement to Microsoft Word. Maybe Lightroom… and that’s still in beta. I do agree with your last statement, though. Who are we to complain? Picasa is free.