Apple iWrite?

[tny]

iWrite is almost certainly a consumer-level word processing program, a replacement for AppleWorks' word processing component and an analog to MS Works - somewhat like Nisus Writer Express. It is very unlikely that it is a full-fledged "pro" WP package - that, if it ever comes, will probably be called something like "Document," and won't come out until at least a year or so after a Microsoft product it would be intended to compete with.

Apple already has a counter to Access: FileMaker (the company FileMaker is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple, isn't it?). It's got a counter to Powerpoint: Keynote. Throw in a counter to Excel and the rumored "Document," and you've got an Office replacement. But I expect such a suite would only come out in the wake of an MS decision to cut MS Office for Mac.

 

[lpb2h]

Originally posted by gamicoulas
Forget it guys...

iWrite is not a Word Processor. It is not in Apple's intent to compete with Microsoft on it's own. Apple competes against MS in collaboration with other companies like Sun or Oracle. MS is very big to be taken on by one company. The only competition Office will get, is going to be from OpenOffice.org or derivatives of that.

Apple is actively involved in the OpenOffice project and in the near future there will be a nice OSX native version on offer, that will be as good or better than the MS offering. The goal is for OpenOffice.org to modularize to a level, that will ease the development of its GUI on different platforms. And that's where Apple's contribution is currently at.

However, iWrite has nothing to do with that. iWrite is going to be the new Newton replacement. Think of it as a small laptop without a keyboard and a mouse but a stylus. It will be the fusion of PDAs and laptops. A computer that takes interaction to another level, and believe me, you are going to like it... a lot...

...but for that you'll just have to wait just a little bit more... just a little bit...

I'm not a betting person (nor one to speculate on what Apple will do), but if I were, I'd say you are write. (I couldn't resist leaving my typo there).
I still think there's room for the type of application I vaguely described, but whatever iWrite is, it's not going to be that.

 

[lpb2h]

Originally posted by manu chao
Talking about compatibility, there are already plenty of incompatibility issues between Word(PC) and Word(Mac), room for improvement which iWrite could fill, e.g.
- font conversion, especially Symbol fonts
- image conversion (proprietary Windows vector graphics)
- missing possibility to embed click-able links in PDFs created from Word documents
- layout issues like page breaks, footnotes etc.

Again: FrameMaker (another beast to be sure), takes the cake. Minus the price, lack of proper OS X implementation, and lack of a "light" version for the average user. Why Adobe couldn't figure out that they could put a dent into MS Word is beyond me. (I can guess, but I think they were wrong.)
kfglq

 

[tychay]

Originally posted by dieselg4
1. Microsoft would most likley drop Office development. This would hurt Mac sales. Look @ how fast they dropped IE when Safari came out.

Bad example. First of all IE is still supported (you have to have MSN to get the latest version). Second, IE didn't make them a penny and was a drain of money on MacBU. Third, IE on Mac development had stagnated long before the release of Safari (or even the rumor of a release of Safari).

Office for Mac makes them a bundle.

The only complaint I've heard with Office from Mac is Microsoft claiming it wasn't making as much as they hoped. Given Microsoft's margins in their OS and Applications divisions, I'd say their sense of entitlement is a little out of whack.

(This does not mean I think "iWrite" is a Word replacement. See my posts earlier.)

Take care,

 

[Doctor Q]

Originally posted by lpb2h
Again: FrameMaker (another beast to be sure), takes the cake. Minus the price, lack of proper OS X implementation, and lack of a "light" version for the average user. Why Adobe couldn't figure out that they could put a dent into MS Word is beyond me. (I can guess, but I think they were wrong.)
kfglq

I second the notion. For years, I've said "use Framemaker" every time I heard somebody complain about yet another nonintuitive feature of MS Word. FrameMaker has always a great product for page layout and long documents and I somehow had the feeling that it "thought like I did". I used its MIF import/export features and batch tools (only available in the Unix version, I think) to do some scripting to automate the merging of data sources into FrameMaker templates and produce camera ready output, and it was a pleasure to work with.

 

[iRiKliAN]

phenolot

iWrite - an apple trademark? has anybody googled for "iWrite"...!?

Interesting... seems to me as if we might have afew answers.

 

[tduality]

Re: Re: Office compatability - off topic

Originally posted by pgwalsh
OO is free and therefor people are hesitant to try it. Many assume it can't be very good if it's free. There's also no advertising of the product and so very few consumer know about it. I could go to Target or Walmart and ask everyone going in if they have heard of OpenOffice.. There response would be "Is that the new MS Office?" They just don't know and don't see the light like computer enthusiasts do.

If they charged 40's for it and sold it at Fry's and Walmart, they may actually get a lot more users then offering free over the net.. It sounds carzy, but it'd have a greater effect.

Sun sells its commercial variant of OpenOffice named StarOffice starting for about 80$ . It is also a part of Sun's 'Java Desktop System' which Sun tries to push into the corporate market.

Edited the link.

 

[tduality]

Originally posted by gamicoulas


snip...
Apple is actively involved in the OpenOffice project and in the near future there will be a nice OSX native version on offer, that will be as good or better than the MS offering. The goal is for OpenOffice.org to modularize to a level, that will ease the development of its GUI on different platforms. And that's where Apple's contribution is currently at.

...snip

Interesting statement. Any information to back it? I'm frequently checking out the discussion forums at NeoOffice where the development of the 3 versions (X11, Java, Aqua) are discussed. I get the impression that Apple is not actively involved in this community effort. Maybe they're doing a 'stealth development' like they did with KHTML/Safari. Considering the effort and enthusiasm the guys at NeoOffice put in this project I would be a bit disappointed of Apple if they don't honor their work.

 

[k2k koos]

Oh deary me....

we will see, voice input wold be nice, alongside total compatibility with MS Word, and a new and improved user interface.....

I'm dreaming again...

 

[madmaxmedia]

GoBe Productive

It seems that the main 'hook' of the GoBe software is that it is a single integrated program with word processing, spreadsheet, and page layout capabilities. Combine that with multiple file formats including PDF, XML, HTML and I think you have a new paradigm for document creation.

Instead of picking a word processor, spreadsheet program, HTML editor, page layout program, etc., you fire up a single program. What could be more elegant, intuitive and user-centric? Instead of having 3 or 4 (or more) different files from different programs, possibly in different folders, you could have just 1 file for any particular project you are working on. It reminds me of some of the really cool outlining programs that are Apple-only (Circus Ponies NoteBook).

Such a program would NOT compete with MS Office. It would only have a subset of features, but those would be enough for 99% of consumer users, and plenty of business users. Plus, with PDF, RTF, HTML export it could still at least be readable by others.

This makes sense to me, in that if Apple went to the effort of hiring 3 GoBe founders, they would be hiring them based on the unique features and technology of the software they've developed.

Such a software program would put me even closer to switching. To me, it would be more substantial than the iLife applications- they are great apps, but I have pretty good Windows alternatives right now (and Windows iTunes as well!)

 

[kapinos]

?

 

[GregA]

a wild speculation

iWrite... iWrite.. what else could it be...?

How about the ultimate Web-blog program?

"From your Mac at home, setup automatically an amazing website, in seconds - served right from your home Mac.

When a viewer opens your site - they see your customised welcome page. From there they have many choices.

1. Your photo albums (like .Mac does now?)
2. A list of the bands and songs you love (taken from your most common artists and highest rating songs in iTunes!), with band information from iTMS. No listening to them but can preview from iTMS and buy!
3. A links page taken from your Safari bookmarks (each Safari bookmark will now include a preference for "do not publish").
4. Published calendars
5. An all new diary / blog app for guest books and other information. (Use the "Party Invite" template to give party info on the web, invite friends via email, and simply organise your party).
6. Other web pages you've designed using the new Apple web page writer
7. Optional Filemaker Pro data-website

All this, uploaded and synced to .Mac if requested - and otherwise accessed through iChat or an Apple redirect of web requests to your home computer when it's logged in - www. iwrite. mac. com/iChat-username"

Just some thoughts. I actually believe it's more likely an Appleworks upgrade.

 

[edStar]

Maybe its a graffiti type program for the new Apple Newton reprisal

Who knows what it could be. But I hope to get to use it.

 

[ChrisH3677]

I'm with MadMax. Reading about GoBe's product, I could see how it is philosophically aligned with Apple so would not be surprised if the new Appleworks an all-in-all-in-one.

 

[pgwalsh]

Re: GoBe Productive

Originally posted by madmaxmedia
It seems that the main 'hook' of the GoBe software is that it is a single integrated program with word processing, spreadsheet, and page layout capabilities. Combine that with multiple file formats including PDF, XML, HTML and I think you have a new paradigm for document creation.

Instead of picking a word processor, spreadsheet program, HTML editor, page layout program, etc., you fire up a single program. What could be more elegant, intuitive and user-centric? Instead of having 3 or 4 (or more) different files from different programs, possibly in different folders, you could have just 1 file for any particular project you are working on. It reminds me of some of the really cool outlining programs that are Apple-only (Circus Ponies NoteBook).

Such a program would NOT compete with MS Office. It would only have a subset of features, but those would be enough for 99% of consumer users, and plenty of business users. Plus, with PDF, RTF, HTML export it could still at least be readable by others.

This makes sense to me, in that if Apple went to the effort of hiring 3 GoBe founders, they would be hiring them based on the unique features and technology of the software they've developed.

Such a software program would put me even closer to switching. To me, it would be more substantial than the iLife applications- they are great apps, but I have pretty good Windows alternatives right now (and Windows iTunes as well!)

I like it... I like it alot. Would be great to have some scripting too.