Google Apps: The Cons

Bernard Lunn's post on Google Apps had several responses, including this one:

Open a Google doc. Paste an image. Oh, that's right, you can't Ctrl-C copy, Ctrl-V PASTE an image into a document. Ok, so INSERT an image. Now proportionally resize the image so it retains its aspect ratio. Oh, that's right, you can't. Now crop the image. Oh that's right, you can't.

Now insert a table. Now grab the edge of a column and resize the column. Oh wait, you can't. Now delete one of the columns. Oh wait, you can't.

And so forth. The author focuses on common Office features, notes that Google Docs doesn't support them (or at least not in the same way), then concludes:

I'm sure Google docs works for you and your needs, but for very basic stuff, Google docs is chock full of FAIL.

Like the post it responds to, this one misses the point. GDocs might or might not replace desktop software -- it's just as likely that people draft documents partially in their desktop software and partially in GDocs -- but what it does do is to provide a lightweight editor that can be simultaneously accessed by different users over different platforms, with a full collaboration record. That feature isn't something that desktop software can currently support. And it's not going to be the most important feature for many users. But for those who have to collaborate intensely on documents, it's pretty attractive.

Comment of the Day: "Google Docs is Chock Full of Fail" - ReadWriteWeb

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