Everyone Keeps Trying to Reinvent Word
The word processor is far from dead, but Microsoft had better start fighting if it wants to keep Word at the top of the market. Because this year, word processors are the big thing in web apps. Word — and even Google Docs — haven't really made the mobile transition, and neither of them are really designed for writing for the web. That's left a huge gap to be filled.
Today saw the release of Quip, the newest online writing app that's an attempt to reinvent the word processor for 2013. But it's far from alone. Here's the newest online contenders from the web app throne, linked to my AppStorm articles about each of them:
- iWork for iCloud — Apple's new beta web app versions of their iCloud suite make up the prettiest — and most feature-filled — set of office apps on the web. They're nearly perfect copies of their iPad counterparts, and work amazingly great on the web. Just … no collaboration features, at all, right now.
- Draft — My favorite web app of the year, enough that I've written about it multiple times already, Draft is a Markdown writing app for the web with an editing service, tools to publish to WordPress or save to Dropbox, and more. Much more. It's great, and the one of this list you've got to try since it's so unique.
- Editorially — The new collaborative writing app from Jason Santa Maria and Mandy Brown of A Book Apart fame, Editorially is a Markdown app similar to Draft, but in a more traditional interface and built around teamwork. It's slick, but in private beta.
- Quip — The newest entry, from a former Google and Facebook team, Quip aims to reinvent rich text collaborative writing for the iPad age. It's great — but far closer to Word and Pages than Draft and Editorially mean to be, in a fully unique way. Another app you'll have to try.
- Can I include a Mac app here, too? Ok, good. Ulysses III is the writing app that's won me over this year. It's amazing for us writers that already use Markdown day in, day out, but it's simple enough that it's the only Markdown app I've ever seen that has a chance at converting the normal Word user to Markdown. And that's really cool.
Yup. It's a fun time to be a writer that loves trying out new writing apps.
Thoughts? @reply me on Twitter.