I was initially pretty skeptical [my normal frame of mind] about the potential of Web 2.0 type tools to replace Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Now that I’ve used them though, the idea is growing on me.
With the recent announcement of a forth-coming presentation (read: PowerPoint-like) application, this suite suite will be adding a piece we’ve all been looking for.
Another critital piece that is apparently in the works is the ability to sync documents to the desktop for offline use. This is a pretty important piece for schools (many of which still don’t have 100% reliable connectivity) and for those of us who spend a lot of time on planes.
Every time I’m in a school and hear a kid telling some variation on the “the-computer-ate-my-homework” story (“My document was here and I have no idea what happened to it,” “I forgot my USB drive,” etc.), I think about the potential of these tools. Pretty exciting stuff. And did I mention that they’re free? 🙂
Great news on the presentation software.
I’ve been introducing the Google 2.0 tools to my classmates for the collaborative projects we have along with bubbl.us. I like having the ability to have multiple users in multiple locations.
Also, I find they are more willing to use tools from google than some of the others (name recognition).
Dale Ehrhart
Yes, this stuff is pretty cool. Have you seen Zoho? It’s great tool. One thing I like about Google though is that I don’t worry about if they’ll still be around in a year or so. 🙂
Yeah, I like Zoho.
In some ways, I hope Google buys up a few of the cooler 2.0 offerings. You don’t have to worry about it getting firewalled by the area I.S.D. or going under after you’ve figured out some ways to integrate it in your instruction.
Dale