Should Microsoft Put Office On the iPad? 402
theodp writes "Microsoft is working on a touch-friendly version of Office for Windows 8, writes GeekWire's Todd Bishop. But what about Microsoft Office on the iPad? 'The decision,' Bishop says, 'will say a lot about Microsoft's priorities in this new era. The company can give Windows 8 a boost if it makes Office exclusive to Windows-based tablets. But that's also a risk. The iPad's momentum not only in the home but in the workplace opens the door for Office alternatives to take hold on the Apple tablet, posing a challenge to Microsoft Office.' Over at Minimal Mac, Patrick Rhone feels Microsoft has bigger problems than the lack of Office apps for iOS and Android. 'Like the curtain finally falling from the Wizard of Oz to find just a small, frail, man pretending to be far more powerful and relevant than he really was,' writes Rhone, 'Microsoft's biggest miss was allowing the world to finally see the truth behind the big lie — they were not needed to get real work done. Or anything done, really. And that will be what ultimately kills them.' Perhaps, but BusinessInsider — which finds it just can't quit Excel — also makes a case for why Microsoft should put Office on every platform. Speaking of the future of Office, did you ever notice how people use MS-Word to convince people to use Google Docs?"
Re:woo! (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Ah, Excel (Score:5, Interesting)
I use excel for stuff all the time. Little jobs... quick, repetative, formulaic stuff. That and popping open csv's.
The one I often saw abused was access. Horrible things happen when a shitty Access side-project ends up getting passed around an office.
Microsoft already is (Score:5, Interesting)
I remember reading about this a few months ago. The article is here [cnet.com].
Basically it is a very dumbed down version designed just to read office files on the go similiar to the pocket Office versions for WindowsCE of the past. They do not want adoption of IOS, but the pocket versions do encourage Windows and Office on desktop computer and kills smaller companies or Apple from getting a foothold in the market which would then threaten Windows.
MS has to be careful and walk a very fine line here. This would negate the reason to buy a Windows smart phone as the only reason people bothered with WindowsCE organizors over palm was the ability to read work documents. Now this gives a great reason for these executives and directors to buy an Iphone. Great now I can work on them too!
Office file formats are not going anyway. I got modded down here a few times saying I can't leave Office because I can not guarantee that my resume will look the same on someone elses computer running Office if I make it under LibraOffice. For that reason it will stay forever in business and MS Office is not going anyway as suppliers and customers will think you are incompentent if you send a document that looks funny on their computer.
So if I worked at MS I would only release Office for Windows 8 and Windows mobile and not care what Google and Apple do as I would have the ball no matter what.
Re:You would use it... (Score:5, Interesting)
I have the iWork apps on my iPad (and before that I relied on documents to go).
I rarely create new documents on my iPad, but I do a lot of editing, proof reading, and finalisation of documents that I then share, send on, present, etc. I consider myself highly productive on my iPad - even though I still have a notebook at my desk on which I will knock together complex presentations or spreadsheets, before iCloud syncs them onto my iPad where I will continue working on them or present them from using key note or numbers. In a typical day I spend about an hour or two in front of my notebook at my desk; and the rest of the day is spent on my iPad in meetings, workshops, waiting rooms, aeroplanes, etc.
I doubt that having Microsoft Office for the iPad will change the way I work, much. I suspect that there will be less fixing and tiding up of PowerPoint or Word documents that Keynote or Pages mangled during the conversion process. But I will still spend more than half my time on the iPad reading, editing, changing, commenting on spreadsheets, presentations and documents in collaboration with others and am unlikely to change the volume of material authored from scratch on the iPad itself just because I now have Office for the iPad.
Re:Would *I* use it? (Score:5, Interesting)
Despite all the spite and screaming against Apple that will populate this thread, I thought I would point out that people are *still* judging the iPad as if it were a laptop.
Its perfect for what it is: a tool that is great for certain uses, and not for others. I wouldn't do programming on one, its not suited to it - even if you use a keyboard - in my opinion but if I want to view images, watch TV off the net, use Netflix, its a perfect tool. Its well designed, performs well, seems fairly bug free, easy to use, quite portable, has good if not great battery life etc.
All that said, my wife bought an iPad, and stopped using her netbook entirely at the same time. It is serving all her needs - including writing (using a keyboard mind you) quite well, and I have yet to hear a complaint.
If I had a need for one, I wouldn't hesitate to buy one myself. I am however a desktop person. I hate laptops, netbooks etc. I might get an iPad at some point but I will most likely never buy a laptop or netbook.
Re:Would *I* use it? (Score:3, Interesting)
No way. Typing on my iPad is one of the most awkward things I do in a day, but I don't blame the device.
Of course not. That would be questioning the Holy Apple, and you don't question the Holy Apple. Instead you do mental gymnastics to avoid admitting any flaw.
On the rare occasion that I need to do any real typing on my iPad I just use the keyboard dock (or a bluetooth keyboard when traveling).
I agree that most people use tablets as a consumer device, and carrying a keyboard around the office 'just in case' is ludicrous, but real productivity apps and a dock will give users the opportunity to use their tablets for more than just consuming content or casual emails, etc. Lot's of people have docks on their desk for laptops or netbooks, so why not tablets?
As long as the users can get to the content they require (not a given when documents are stored on file servers) then a tablet/dock solution will work for some users.
Re:I'm not sure I see the need (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Would *I* use it? (Score:5, Interesting)
And this is a silly point. I was going to buy a BT keyboard for my ipad on several occasions but every time I had it in my hands and walking to the register I put it back because the words in my head kept ringing..."If you need to type that much, just grab the laptop you always have with you anyways"
I have never seen anyone that has an iPad and uses it for business, have only that iPad. they always have a laptop as well.
I know a lot of people are attracted to the fiction of only having a thin light ipad with them all day long for all uses, but it's not reality. I simply reach down and flip open my 17" macbook and do serious creation work. it wakes up within 30 seconds and is ready to go.
If the person is a very tiny weakling waif, they can get an ultrabook like an air or other type to have a light compliment that they can not get winded and pass out carrying around.
Why try to make a tablet do everything? why not use it for what it was created for? a compliment to your PC.
I just wish that a real version of Microsoft One Note would hit the ipad. you can't do handwritten notes on the ipad version. so my ipad stays in the case and the Fujitsu tablet comes out in meetings.
Re:I'm not sure I see the need (Score:5, Interesting)
I have the Citrix receiver as well. I'd rather kick myself in the nuts than do anything other than novelty stuff or very very basic work related administration through it on a tablet. Basic things are possible but not worth the 5-10x increase in time and effort. If I'm out and about and get a call to fix something that requires me to "log into work", I'll try to call another engineer myself or I'll respond back to the support desk that I'll get back to them in XX minutes and either drive home if close by or go to my car, grab my laptop and find the nearest free AP. Yes, I still consider those much better options then using the Citrix receiver on my tablet.
Apple should buy Microsoft (Score:3, Interesting)
With Microsoft's stock not performing for the last few years (a decade?) maybe Apple should just buy Microsoft with it's gigantic amount of cash ($100B and soaring!).
Not only would it guarantee, forever, Microsoft products on Apple platforms but it would enable Apple to completely dictate the future of the PC industry. Even Android would probably crumble, what use is your smartphone if your competitor controls ALL the PCs that you'd likely use it with? As well as providing a viable alternative to Google search?
Maybe that's why Apple's been saving its pennies. Can you think of a better use for (in a few years) a couple hundred billion dollars?
(Ok, ok, I know the regulatory agencies in all over the world will likely have some anti-trust issues with this. But it's a useful fantasy to see what Apple's cash hoard could be used for.)
Re:You would use it... (Score:2, Interesting)
By and large I agree with this, Office on the iPad would be great for editing existing documents - I share documents with dropbox to my ipad, sometimes it's just good to review something you've written on a different screen. Being able to edit on the ipad would be a distinct plus.
However... I just have this nagging suspicion that the future is going to end up looking like a network of devices. Streaming movies to apple TV from the ipad is a pretty satisfying experience, the bluetooth keyboard works just fine, but a case that let you snap a keyboard nto an ipad and make it feel like a laptop would be handy. I know, so why don't I just stick with my laptop? Maybe the answer is in the convenience of the ipad. At home I'll always turn to the ipad to pick up mails - just open the cover and it's there, never mind a 30 second start up. Make OSX more like iOS?
Any road up, Office for iOS: I'd vote yes.
Re:I'm not sure I see the need (Score:3, Interesting)
My experience is exactly the opposite. Perhaps this is due to all of the companies I have worked in being fairly high tech.
The only people in any of the companies I have ever worked in that used Office, at all, have been in sales and legal. Research people tend towards far more powerful tools such as R and MatLab for analysis and LATEX for reporting. Developers tend towards in line documentation if they can be bothered to doc at all. Accounting I guess could use excel but I have never been anywhere that didn't use peachtree or quickbooks.
Honestly, Office seems to be used mostly for one sales drone to send another sales drone a power point about how many sales they have in their sales.
Re:I'm not sure I see the need (Score:5, Interesting)
The biggest feature lacking on the iPad for remote desktop goodness is Apple's lack of support for bluetooth mice.
A bluetooth keyboard helps for keyboard intensive tasks, but even with GUIs that are very keyboard friendly the combination of BT + Wifi + RDP lag makes rapid tabbing or GUI widget manipulation frustrating on the iPad. Even at best, I find that a BT keyboard only adds about 25% additional ease of function on the iPad.
With a mouse, though, it would be a pretty appealing platform for RDP work, particularly if the iPad 3 display resolution rumors are correct.
Re:I'm not sure I see the need (Score:5, Interesting)
I suspect that the EOL in 2014 of XP is the only reason that many companies are even bothering to look at Win7 and as they upgrade, they'll stick with Win7 until EOL in 2020 when Win12 will finally be out and then they'll move to something Nix like that looks/acts like XP instead.
Re:Complete non-story (Score:5, Interesting)
Academics are those whose mission is to pursue knowledge for knowledge’s sake. I’m not surprised many professors are entranced by tablet devices (iPads) given my own experience with them.
As a former academic who currently works in web development, I have an iPad and I wish wish WISH that I had had one when I had been a professor. I use a PDF reader (iAnnotate [apple.com]) that allows me to annotate PDFs, upload those PDFs to my desktop. From there I can (using custom PERL scripts) generate XML containing the content and metadata of those annotations, which XML objects I incorporate into an XML editor/viewer (Tinderbox [eastgate.com]) for editing, organizing, and HTML export. I bring the exported HTML into a CMS and publish that on the web. Between these pieces of software and hardware is ENORMOUS pedagogical potential
I know this because I had such a system in place as a faculty and students who hated Blackboard regularly commented how useful and more efficient my online course materials were. This was pre-tablet device (read pre-iPad), so I had been using a desktop program (open source Skim [sourceforge.net]) to make these annotations. iAnnotate is a much more direct translation of book-reading skills and had iPads existed prior to my leaving academia for the Silicon Valley, I would have been using one, too.
tl;dr: I suspect that the "ooh shiny" professors have for tablet devices is actually the realization that touch devices are a paradigm shift from desktops, a paradigm with its own set of advantages and possibilities. Faculty buy into these things not because they are easily distracted but because they have a researcher’s curiosity for useful technologies.