Microsoft's Office for iPad Apps Gain Printing Capabilities

[puma1552]

I think this is all about the cost. Will you buy a coffee maker for $100 or would you rather rent one for a penny a month and you get to use the latest and greatest coffee machine? What happen if renting it for a lifetime is even less than you paid for the coffee maker outright? Will you still own?

You all do realize that not too many people buy software and choose to use free software/version. Some professional software are pretty expensive to own. By making it more affordable (subscription based) you pool more people to share the cost and the software makers have lower maintenance cost since everyone has to use the latest version.

You don't want to rent because you think it's going to be more expensive. Would you think otherwise if it's actually cheaper? I see subscription based software a potential win win for both consumer and software vendors if it's done right.

I never said it was about cost.

I'd pay $100 for that coffeemaker to buy it once and own it outright and be done with it than have a monthly 1 cent bill for it.

Sorry, but a subscription is just a hassle and I don't want another monthly/annual expense...I'd rather just buy it and be done with it. Not sure why pro-subscription people can't grasp this.

 

[cyberslammer]

Not even remotely interested...subscription based is supposedly the new "thing"...but if you price it over a few years compared to what you would get for an academic Office license that you pay for once it's not worth it...I'll stick to iWorks or Cloudon.

 

[PracticalMac]

If Office for iOS was FREE, then maybe, maybe MS has chance.

 

[the8thark]

My Mac and iPad are MS Free Zones.

Why? MS is not that bad.

My iPad on the other hand in a google and adobe free zone.
And I am waiting for pixelmator to become a photoshop replacement.

 

[Chloe12]

printing

its odd to release it later with the printing option
also the subscription is a bit off putting
another option is to save to onedrive on the ipad or iphone and use the the print n share app

 

[philipk]

I'd rather just buy it and be done with it. Not sure why pro-subscription people can't grasp this.

I grasp the concept that you are not a subscription person. That is okay.

However what you cannot grasp is that it is not Microsoft's place to please you. It is their place to make a profit. And they choose to do that by subscriptions to their software.

Therefore, you are not the type of customer Microsoft wants. Don't complain about their business model. Buy software from other people. That's called free enterprise.

If you are happy with the free software from Apple by all means use it. I cannot. I need MS Office for my business uses.

So let's make a deal. Don't complain about Microsoft Office requiring a subscription and I won't complain about Apple software being free.

You are not the customer Microsoft wants and I am not the customer Apple wants.

Simple to grasp, isn't it?

 

[puma1552]

I grasp the concept that you are not a subscription person. That is okay.

However what you cannot grasp is that it is not Microsoft's place to please you. It is their place to make a profit. And they choose to do that by subscriptions to their software.

Therefore, you are not the type of customer Microsoft wants. Don't complain about their business model. Buy software from other people. That's called free enterprise.

If you are happy with the free software from Apple by all means use it. I cannot. I need MS Office for my business uses.

So let's make a deal. Don't complain about Microsoft Office requiring a subscription and I won't complain about Apple software being free.

You are not the customer Microsoft wants and I am not the customer Apple wants.

Simple to grasp, isn't it?

By all means, then feel free to roll over and take it from MS, the subscription model is made to take more money out of your pocket long-term, and put more in theirs; they didn't decide to do subscription software as a financial benefit to the consumer, they realized that long-term it costs you more. 99.9% of the updates will be useless/behind the scenes/no value added feature updates anyway.

So it looks like you have no choice. I'm advocating that there should be choice to do either, but since there is not, enjoy paying to type word documents every month for the rest of your natural life. Enjoy maintaining some type of account with yet another username and password, getting junk email from MS, and keeping an eye on pending and posting payments, monthly or annually, and making sure there is always money set aside for it, be it to pay with manually online or to have auto-withdrawn from your account. I on the other hand, will continue using Office 2010 free and clear and never worry about any of the above.

EDIT: And rule #1 of business, it IS your job to please consumers - without consumers, you have no business.

 

[Renzatic]

And rule #1 of business, it IS your job to please consumers - without consumers, you have no business.

Their subscription services are making a billion dollars a year, so I guess some people like it.

 

[puma1552]

Their subscription services are making a billion dollars a year, so I guess some people like it.

Or they need it and have no other choice, like philipk. Pretty dirty move to make it subscription only once it's the world standard office suite.

 

[Renzatic]

Or they need it and have no other choice, like philipk. Pretty dirty move to make it subscription only once it's the world standard office suite.

Boxed copies are readily available for anyone who wants them. As of writing, only the iPad rev of Office requires a subscription.

 

[roadbloc]

Or they need it and have no other choice, like philipk. Pretty dirty move to make it subscription only once it's the world standard office suite.

You are aware that Microsoft still sells boxed copies? They just don't inlcude an iPad copy.

EDIT: beat to it

 

[JoeRito]

I grasp the concept that you are not a subscription person. That is okay.

However what you cannot grasp is that it is not Microsoft's place to please you. It is their place to make a profit. And they choose to do that by subscriptions to their software.

Therefore, you are not the type of customer Microsoft wants. Don't complain about their business model. Buy software from other people. That's called free enterprise.

If you are happy with the free software from Apple by all means use it. I cannot. I need MS Office for my business uses.

So let's make a deal. Don't complain about Microsoft Office requiring a subscription and I won't complain about Apple software being free.

You are not the customer Microsoft wants and I am not the customer Apple wants.

Simple to grasp, isn't it?

YOU ARE WRONG about one point: it is the job of the vendor to please customers and meet their needs. Otherwise, folks are under no obligation to spend their hard earned money.

The consumer is saying, "We hate subscription based software!!!"

Is MS listening?

 

[Renzatic]

You are aware that Microsoft still sells boxed copies? They just don't inlcude an iPad copy.

EDIT: beat to it

I win! \/

 

[Liquorpuki]

Or they need it and have no other choice, like philipk. Pretty dirty move to make it subscription only once it's the world standard office suite.

Everything that's SaaS has a subscription

And thanks to market drivers like the Chromebook model and hardware companies making it impossible to price software above $5, SaaS is where we're headed whether you like it or not

 

[Renzatic]

YOU ARE WRONG about one point: it is the job of the vendor to please customers and meet their needs. Otherwise, folks are under no obligation to spend their hard earned money.

The consumer is saying, "We hate subscription based software!!!"

Is MS listening?

Must be confusing for them, what with all those mixed signals and all.

"Gawwwwwdd, MS! We consumers hate hate HATE subscription based software, and we want you to just QUIT IT! LIKE RIGHT NOW! It's TERRIBLE! Oh, while we've got your attention, here's some more of that money we've been throwing your way for your subscription services over the last year or two".

 

[puma1552]

Boxed copies are readily available for anyone who wants them. As of writing, only the iPad rev of Office requires a subscription.

You are aware that Microsoft still sells boxed copies? They just don't inlcude an iPad copy.

EDIT: beat to it

While this is true for now, I guarantee the PC/Mac versions go subscription-based in time, as well. It's all going to go that way, just like you're going to be forced to depend on an internet connection and a cloud to hold your data - someday you won't be able to buy a computer with local storage sans what's needed to run the machine.

 

[Renzatic]

While this is true for now, I guarantee the PC/Mac versions go subscription-based in time, as well. It's all going to go that way, just like you're going to be forced to depend on an internet connection and a cloud to hold your data - someday you won't be able to buy a computer with local storage sans what's needed to run the machine.

You're probably right. Though judging by the sales number MS is pulling in on their sub services, it seems to me that the public doesn't mind nearly as much as some people are claiming.

I take the "if you need it, get it, if you don't, then don't" approach to Office 365. I tried out my free month on the iPad, and yeah, I liked it quite a bit, but I didn't feel like I needed it enough to justify the monthly cost. I've since gone back to Pages. But if I ever do need it, it's right there for me, and it's not really that expensive considering what you get.

SAAS works well for better for some people than it does others. If you're a big business or need to install and maintain Office across multiple computers and platforms, 365 works beautifully. If you're not, or your needs are more focused like mine are, then don't get it. SAAS isn't to blame for that. It's just not a good deal for you.

Oh, and I very seriously doubt the day when computers come without any local storage will ever come to pass. At least not until the day ISPs can guarantee 100% uptime.

 

[MisakixMikasa]

iThat is probably where whole software industrymoving.... we will probably moving to HDDlss computer in the future where cloud is the future. If you do not like this, by all means. You cannot change how future would shifting.

Microsoft could easily make you pay every year when they just pull older version from App Store, then require to pay for newer version. Or they could charge for the update.

 

[Virtua1]

Let me know when the app gains the "pay once capability".

Then I will be on board, and purchase it.

• Don't need "multiple machine licenses".
• Don't need "yearly cloud storage as an added value". Already have that.
• Don't need "the absolute latest, greatest version" of a WORD PROCESSOR.

I'll keep going on about this precisely because I do care.
Yes, I would like to buy and use MS office for iPad. And no, I won't rent.

So, what would you pay on a per-app basis?

$10 of course.

Seriously, though. I'm pretty flexible here. Anywhere in the range of
$25 - $50 apiece for Word, Excel, and Powerpoint seems fair to me, and
in the range I would purchase the software on iOS.

Really, if it was $120 for all three, I would be purchasing and using the software already and would not be debating this. I might even be recommending it to family, friends, and colleagues - as I do tend to drive additional sales through recommendations to them. I have been known to even purchase additional copies of certain software for some of them to use. But instead Microsoft has chosen this path for now.

The financial loss is theirs. Their bean counters just need to be aware of it.
In the interest of fairness, and the desire to own / use the software - I'll keep my eye out for a change in policy.

 

[Daalseth]

My Macs were too until I realized how much better Office 2011 is than crappy iWork. If you really want to get things done and be compatible with the World you use Office. For people looking for a table-like freebee I guess Pages and Numbers are OK.

Why? MS is not that bad.

My iPad on the other hand in a google and adobe free zone.
And I am waiting for pixelmator to become a photoshop replacement.

I'm a writer so I don't use PowerPoint like software, my Excel needs are very minimal, and IMO Outlook is the worst e-mail client ever made. I despise the package.

I tried Pages and found it to be just weird. After a couple of months of trying to use it I gave up. On my devices I'm using WriteRoom. On my Mac I have OpenOffice, though I often use TextEdit. Both will save in Office compatible formats and the price was right.

For what I do Office is overly complex, 99% of its features are stuff that I will never need, do not want, and the price is absurd. The latter is especially true with MS's push to try to get everyone onto Office365. Software as service, especially when it's an Office Suite that I wouldn't need to update for years, is just a ploy to gouge the customers for money. I don't rent software.

 

[maflynn]

The consumer is saying, "We hate subscription based software!!!"

Based on how much revenue MS is generating from the subscriptions quite the opposite. They're making money hand over fist so the message is that consumers don't hate subscriptions.

 

[Renzatic]

For what I do Office is overly complex, 99% of its features are stuff that I will never need, do not want, and the price is absurd. The latter is especially true with MS's push to try to get everyone onto Office365. Software as service, especially when it's an Office Suite that I wouldn't need to update for years, is just a ploy to gouge the customers for money. I don't rent software.

If you're a writer, Scrivener would work for you a helluva lot better than Office would.

 

[philipk]

YOU ARE WRONG about one point: it is the job of the vendor to please customers and meet their needs. Otherwise, folks are under no obligation to spend their hard earned money.

The consumer is saying, "We hate subscription based software!!!"

Is MS listening?

I didn't say that Microsoft didn't need to please their customers. I said that Microsoft didn't need to please you. I should have been more specific, Microsoft doesn't need to please SPECIFICALLY you. They don't need to please specifically puma 1552 or JoeRito. They need to please the majority of their paying customers.

Microsoft pleases me and many other customers that are making them very profitable.

----------

For what I do Office is overly complex, 99% of its features are stuff that I will never need, do not want, and the price is absurd. The latter is especially true with MS's push to try to get everyone onto Office365. Software as service, especially when it's an Office Suite that I wouldn't need to update for years, is just a ploy to gouge the customers for money. I don't rent software.

Then you aren't the customer Microsoft wants.

End of argument.

You don't want them and they don't want you.

So why are you so angry at them? Do you feel jilted?

 

[philipk]

By all means, then feel free to roll over and take it from MS, the subscription model is made to take more money out of your pocket long-term, and put more in theirs; they didn't decide to do subscription software as a financial benefit to the consumer, they realized that long-term it costs you more. 99.9% of the updates will be useless/behind the scenes/no value added feature updates anyway.

I have been using computers for word processing and spreadsheets for 28 years. I started with Lotus 123 and WordPerfect. They were indispensable to me and most other users. Then they both screwed up and didn't move to WYSIWYG. Now they are gone.

If you are right and Microsoft stops innovating then they will also go the way of the Dodo.

Microsoft must innovate and their iPad apps did innovate. However, there is always a risk.

As far as me rolling over, I didn't write the millions of lines of code in Office so I have no right to control it. To paraphrase "Godfather II". we aren't communists!

For the record, I have been using Word and Excel for 24 years. I got my first copies with Windows 3 in May 1990. I bought a computer that including them before their release with my purchase in February 1990. I believe I paid an extra $499 for the software. The software including Windows 3 was mailed to me in May 1990. So the subscription price is MUCH cheaper in the long run.

 

[sracer]

EDIT: And rule #1 of business, it IS your job to please consumers - without consumers, you have no business.

Actually no, it's not. The job is to please CUSTOMERS. Marketing is what entices a consumer to become a customer.

The majority of comments regarding MS Office for iPad is that little short of giving it away for free ($10 per module was cited as a "reasonable" price) would be enough to convert those consumers to customers. That's assuming they were being truthful... I suspect that some would not buy Office no matter how low the price was.