I thought Bill was retired from Microsoft?
Why the Bill hate.
You're on MacRumors, you don't expect this at some point on a Microsoft post? I don't enjoy the bashing either, but it's clearly bound to happen.
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Microsoft Reportedly Considering iPad Version of Office
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You're on MacRumors, you don't expect this at some point on a Microsoft post? I don't enjoy the bashing either, but it's clearly bound to happen.
I can well believe that Microsoft’s left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing, and then some departments could be excited about the iPad while others put it down. (Not that Gates really speaks for MS these days.)
I don’t think that’s quite the nature of the approval issue. Apple allows lots of competing apps—everything from browsers to email apps and even paid music services!
The approval problems (which are very rare out of the thousands that go smoothly) seem to me more on the order of a) restrictions placed by AT&T and b) sheer random bad calls by the approval staff, who then communicate shockingly poorly—a problem that Apple deserves full blame for.
And some c) use of private APIs (which are private because they are in flux and risky—and then often become public later). And all of these reasons sometimes get reported in the “press” as reasons which are imaginary, and then when the real reason comes out, it’s not news. (How many scary stories have we heard about Apple denying app X for evil reason Y, only to read a tiny blurb a week later that the real issue was something else entirely—and then app Y ends up in the App Store after all?)
I don’t think that’s quite the nature of the approval issue. Apple allows lots of competing apps—everything from browsers to email apps and even paid music services!
The approval problems (which are very rare out of the thousands that go smoothly) seem to me more on the order of a) restrictions placed by AT&T and b) sheer random bad calls by the approval staff, who then communicate shockingly poorly—a problem that Apple deserves full blame for.
And some c) use of private APIs (which are private because they are in flux and risky—and then often become public later). And all of these reasons sometimes get reported in the “press” as reasons which are imaginary, and then when the real reason comes out, it’s not news. (How many scary stories have we heard about Apple denying app X for evil reason Y, only to read a tiny blurb a week later that the real issue was something else entirely—and then app Y ends up in the App Store after all?)
I think that Apple has made a distinction between apps that you buy from the app store and ones that are included with the device. I think Apple made some sort of Poker game too available on the app store, and there has been no restriction on poker games.
I am really skeptical about this. First of all, I think there was a similar rumor years ago about the iPhone- something like they were "considering" it. Secondly, Microsoft has been a bit behind their goals with the general office suite for a long time, citing technical difficulties all the while. They were the last ub app, and they are still finishing that transition (virtual basic in 2011). Maybe they don't have the staffing, or maybe it really is just immensely complicated, but I don't see them doing this anytime soon.
All that being said, if they were to do it, I would buy it and and the iPad immediately. Otherwise, without the ability to edit .doc and .xls files on the go (and it would have to be the real Microsoft office, not pages or anything else for compatibility reasons discussed above), the iPad is just a big iPhone for me (and my iPhone already serves me quite nicely).
I don't think Stevie J. buys into the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" thing.
And if he did, I think Apple + Google vs. Microsoft would be much smarter than Apple + Microsoft vs. Google.
Complicated for whom?
"...the relationship between the Mac development team at Microsoft and Apple is a great relationship. It’s one of our best developer relationships."
- Steve Jobs, D5 Conference 2007
Haha, what I love is that Apple will be making 30% on Microsoft's product. That is the beauty of it all.
I doubt Microsoft would even care if iWork wasn't announced for it. They don't want anything else to catch on, even on the Mac.
I'm going to stick with iWork for now. Looks super slick and is priced right. I'd also like WriteRoom.
I doubt Microsoft would even care if iWork wasn't announced for it. They don't want anything else to catch on, even on the Mac.
I'm going to stick with iWork for now. Looks super slick and is priced right. I'd also like WriteRoom.
Bring it! I think this is would be a great move!
I guess it's possible to get a false-type of multi-tasking within productivity software like this if there was one app that was a portal to all the productivity programs... I wonder if they'll go that route...
I guess it's possible to get a false-type of multi-tasking within productivity software like this if there was one app that was a portal to all the productivity programs... I wonder if they'll go that route...
Other than a "reader" like the free MS Office "readers" you can download from MS.com, I don't see the value (unless it's like $10)...how many people are going to sit there and write documents or make major typing changes on an iPad?
Opening and looking at the docs? Sure. Making a quick edit? Sure.
Then again, you can't print from the iPad so that's a bummer for Office style productitivity apps...I hate reading anything longer than 3 pages on a screen...print it out so its gentler on the eyes, I can mark it up quickly and easily with pen, etc.
Opening and looking at the docs? Sure. Making a quick edit? Sure.
Then again, you can't print from the iPad so that's a bummer for Office style productitivity apps...I hate reading anything longer than 3 pages on a screen...print it out so its gentler on the eyes, I can mark it up quickly and easily with pen, etc.
I would love Office for iPad but hard to believe it could happen since M$ can't even get a decent version of Office out for the Mac. It would need to do something other/better than iWork, not just a weak sauce version just to say "Hey we have an iPad app too." If they had a quality version it would present nice bundling opportunities for them, and wcould help Apple sell the iPad to business.
They might be able to... the entire thing the App Store redefines is the reach vs. price issue. Microsoft already drastically reduces its prices for corporate consumers (and lets their employees -- and students -- take home free or nearly free copies) in order to get reach vs. single unit price. What the app store does is do this in sales to consumers. If you can sell 10x as many copies of an app, you can price it at 1/10th the price. Office already sells for around $130, including all the distribution chain markups, so if they can sell 5-6x as many copies using the app store, then who knows?
If this works on the iPad, I continue to think the app store is going to be the future of the way software is sold to Apple customers, eventually migrating to the consumer desktop.
What business is going buy an iPad?! The iPad is clearly advertised and aimed at games, videos, ebooks, and web surfing. Sure, there will likely be some "productivity" apps available for it but no business is going to give out iPads to its employees for work use.
The only business model I could see POSSIBLY rolling out an iPad (or any other similar tablet in the future) is the hospital industry...allowing nurses and doctors to carry around a single digital clipboard with all the information about the patients rather than carrying a few clipboards/paper folders as they do today. But given HIPAA and other regulatory compliance, the digital clipboard is years if not decades away from adoption.
-Eric
you know what??
hey. If they can get office on to the ipad, I would buy it. that makes it so much more useful. and i'm sure that's a selling point for anyone who uses office and goes out to places to work (IE construction, architecture, students and many others)
hey. If they can get office on to the ipad, I would buy it. that makes it so much more useful. and i'm sure that's a selling point for anyone who uses office and goes out to places to work (IE construction, architecture, students and many others)
Microsoft would sell tens of thousands, if not a million copies at $10-$50 each.
Make $ence to me...
Make $ence to me...
Microsoft is a software company, and keeping the MS Office suite entrenched is just good business practices for them. MS Word would be an almost guaranteed purchase for 75% of iPad owners, I'd imagine. Even at $10 a pop, I have a hard time seeing why they wouldn't want to get in on the action -- both for the long-term and short-term revenue.
My project that requires persons who need to review a document and then approve it all hours of the day or night. The instant on device with a secure VPN connection via 3g is much easier than a booting a laptop, using an iphone or a blackberry.
Steve
I'm far more interested in what Google does. Google Docs as an app, please? Shouldn't be too hard to do a custom browser with HTML5 local storage an whatnot for Google Docs...
not to mention
1. iwork can open and save as office files
2. by the time they decide to do it and get it done, iwork for the ipad will have been out for weeks if not months and will have snagged a fair bit of the market already.
It's more "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win."
Are you serious?
These forums are already chocked full of literally scores and scores of practical business uses for these things. Business applications for the iPad are going to be huge.
your math is a tad off. it's $10 for each of the 3 components of iwork. it's easier to see what they are up to. they want to lure new buyers for the ipad versions as well as those that know iwork from their computers. without the bad press of having the price crazy high. plus those PC folks that had to have an ipad will experience iwork (or at least a part of it) and hopefully decide to buy Mac next time and get iwork instead of office cause they have experienced it.
all in all, very smart
Are you out of your mind? Do you want to kill somebody by laughing them to death?