Let's Collaborate & Have a Good Time (#18)

Okay, now I am really excited. I had trouble getting into the social networking tools and the mashups that this exercise introduced us to, but the web based word processing applications are actually useful. They feel like progress and not just another time waster. I tried all three of the suggested apps and liked Google docs and thinkfree the best. This is because I already understand how to use them due to their similarity to Microsoft Word. I uploaded a spreadsheet to Google Docs and it was very easy. The only thing stopping me from using Google Docs exclusively for all my former Microsoft Office needs is Fear of Google. I write this as I blog in my Google blogger account. But, I am afraid that Google will take over the universe, so I would rather spread it around a bit, and explore whether Thinkfree is as easy to use. I created a document there and the functions were the same as in Word and I see that it also does spreadsheets that look like Excel. Writeboard was the least cluttered of the three. I liked being presented with a blank screen and the simple invitation to write, but it looks like you have to learn some simple code to do any formatting in it. I was also disappointed that the backpackit application that helps you organize all of your writeboard documents is not completely free. I wanted to use the sharable calender to coordinate my schedule with my husband's, but discovered that I would have to pay to upgrade my account. Lo and behold, Google has a free, sharable calender application. See, they ARE taking over the universe!