Gliffy , a must have Web 2.0 application for the Google Office Power Pack
June 21st, 2007 by admin
Slow but decisive, taking one step at the time, with a final result made up of an entire collection of Web 2.0 applications : this is the right description for the next revolution in On line Office Applications. Microsoft is probably biting it’s nails off because it didn’t truly appreciate the power and opportunities the Internet reserved for open minded , open source orientated people.
So what about Office Diagrams? This could be the new product that can complete the Office Pack. Why don’t step outside of the box and offer the users a free and easy alternative to diagram creation. Why Gllify ? This light ( free for the moment ) application gives you the power to create small diagrams. Uml ( class , use case sequence, collaboration, state chart, activity, component, and deployment ) and charts , you name it , it’s there at your disposal
What this site can also do , and does is very well is export the result to an image file you can save. You can also save it in a specific format and log in to your account for a later re-edit.
Google Office Short History :
At this point in time the Google Office Pack ( Google Docs ) is made up of two main components : Google Docs and Spreadsheets. The best tool by far is the spreadsheets application . You have the power of Excel and a nice looking interface.( There might be some sluggishness in the Linux versions but probably this will be fixed soon ).Google docs is a light application that will probably in the future replace the Word we all got acquainted with and use it in our daily routine. The spell check implementation is a nice and must have feature;it works acceptably well.
The Google acquisition list :
2005 2Web Technologies Web-based spreadsheet
March, 2006 Upstartle Writely, on line word processing
April, 2007 Tonic Systems Presentation software
June, 2007 Zenter Presentations Software
As you can see the acquisition started in 2005 when Google bought 2Web Technologies. The Excel alternative was ready to be presented to the masses. In the beginning the spreadsheets were lacking one important detail : the power to create graphs. But after a while the big G overcome this shortcoming . Then in March 2006 , Writely the online word processing application was integrated into the future Google docs. They bought it , worked their magic on it and made it available. It’s not really our favorite editor because the desktop competition is of high quality indeed : Open Office (they’ve started to eat off Microsoft market share). After Tonic Systems was acquired users started to report the possibility to visualize Power Point docs in their Gmail account. Now with the Zender acquisition this feature is a certain thing that will materialize soon.
Are people interested in Google Office ?
The next search results are very conclusive.
Maybe in 2008 Google Diagrams will be on top of the search list.
Why Not ?
So why not buy Gliffy to? A new , nice looking and incredible solid Web 2.0 startup that can make a lot of difference in the way people organize their life. Maybe even an integration with excel could be the right thing.
Next Google moves :
A desktop application , a Mozilla browser that will only contain links to the Google Office Pack Suite. Imagine a light program that can give you access to everything you need, maybe a Java browser for portability , under 1 Mega of size and with on-line instant access from everywhere. Some other available applications like Google Gears can really boost the productivity and sticky factor. ( this application makes on-line pages available for off-line browsing ).
Diagramming in your web browser without downloading additional software
Hello and thanks for the mention of Gliffy–we appreciate the comments regarding our prettiness and lightness–these are characteristics we worked to achieve. If you have other feedback or suggestions about Gliffy, we’d love to hear them~ Thanks again, debik (at) gliffy (dot) com