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iWork to Become a Web Application at Macworld?

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Apr 12, 2001
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9to5Mac claims that Apple will be announcing at Macworld that the next version of iWork will be composed of web-based applications. According to the rumor site, that means the future versions of Numbers, Pages and Keynote will be entirely browser based. (Note that this does not necessarily mean that native Mac versions will not also co-exist.)

Apple's move into web-based applications has been clear with the release of MobileMe's extensive Mail and Address Book applications composed entirely out of web-based technologies such as Javascript. In fact, there had previously been talk of an entire "Webkit-based" platform after Apple had adopted the SproutCore framework for use in MobileMe.

Developers have been constantly pushing the boundaries of what a web application can accomplish. 280 Slides is an example of a browser-based version of Keynote/Powerpoint written by former Apple employees.

Article Link: iWork to Become a Web Application at Macworld?
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2008/12/31/iwork-to-become-a-web-application-at-macworld/
I really hope this is wrong news. I would imagine Apple releasing an add-on package and still maintain local copy as is today.
 
Agreed. Web Apps suck. Latency is the big problem.

I used to work at Sun Microsystem and all their systems were slow as can be because they insisted on running everything within a browser environment.

I'll be disappointed if this is the way of things to come rather than an addition to the existing feature set.
 
Mobile Me did surprise me in the Keynote because of what it could do as web app but when it was released it was a disappointment and made me late for waiting in line for the iPhone 3G!:mad: I think that if "Mobile iWork" is released Apple would put more testing into it so that it actually works.
 
I just hope this is not true, that would be terrible.
Even if they offered offline mode or something like that it would still feel awkward to do everything from a web browser.

It would be nice if they had this as a complement to the desktop suite, thought; something to edit documents on the go, maybe featuring collaboration features.
 
Add on sure. But webapps are entirely unreliable. MobileMe loves to reload itself and lose emails. No one would choose to work for extended periods of time through a web based app when their work could be so easily lost.
 
well if MobileMe is any indication of Apple's ability to make a web based application, iWork is probably going to suck. And this is coming from a loyal MobileMe subscriber who uses the web based MobileMe everyday. They just have a long way to go.
 
zap2 said:
Well, that might be cool as an add on...but be sure I want iWork on my local drives as well!
Click to expand...

Absolutely.

An application like iWork is definitely not the type of application that should be web-dependent. Any number of problems could shut down productivity in a real hurry.

I just can't imagine Apple going there. There will have to be a version that can be stored on one's machine. It'll probably be like the MobileMe cloud apps. Address Book and Mail both have local copies and cloud copies. Of course, the cloud copies are never quite as robust.

I don't know. Maybe this is another way to push MobileMe membership.

It's going to be interesting to see what happens here.
 
If this is true, I will go back to PowerPoint....even if I have to settle for no animations, it would be better than having to depend on the internet.
 
No

NO!!!! Please, for the love of god. No browser based apps. I think Google has shown that browser based apps suck for more than a novelty, or for college kids running from Internet cafe to Internet cafe to do their homework.
 
Having iWork web apps compliment the Desktop apps is great, but replace them?

You can't really drag and drop an image into a browser very easily or use any font on your computer.
 
I'm not keen on this either...

How on earth do I work on a presentation on a plane? I'll be sticking to '08.

Weird decision. :confused:
 
Running as a web application would allow them to run on the iPhone / Windows? Thus enabling them to become usable for presentation as such (for example how do you currently run a Keynote presenation on a windows machine without exporting it to quicktime).

Perhaps this is just a windows/iPhone web app but not a replacement for the fully functional osx apps.

While they are at it how about autosave for Pages :rolleyes:
 
Does that mean I cannot work on Pages, Numbers, etc. without having an internet connection????

How in the world would that work with Keynote?

I cannot imagine the suite being entirely web-based that just doesn't make sense. (Airplanes, poor signals, subway, ...so many places people work with their applications without signals.)
 
well, i'll believe this when i see it. granted, i'm sure apple has learned from the mobileme experience. but have they really learned enough for this?
 
xUKHCx said:
(for example how do you currently run a Keynote presenation on a windows machine without exporting it to quicktime).
Click to expand...

I don't.

I take my Macbook with me. If they want a presentation, that's the only option. If somebody else wants to give the presentation, it's Quicktime or make it yourself. ;)
 
xUKHCx said:
Running as a web application would allow them to run on the iPhone / Windows? Thus enabling them to become usable for presentation as such (for example how do you currently run a Keynote presenation on a windows machine without exporting it to quicktime).

Perhaps this is just a windows/iPhone web app but not a replacement for the fully functional osx apps.

While they are at it how about autosave for Pages :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I think you are right. This will be an enhancement to the existing software not entirely web based. I bet it will be like Mail and iCal on mobileMe is an extension to what we have loaded on our laptops. This makes much more sense.
 
I'd like it as an extra, the way the MobileMe web apps complement the local Mail, iCal, and Address Book apps. I really hope Apple is able to make a keynote web app that's as good as 280slides.
 
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