[Hidden-tech] Microsoft Office suite vs. other options

[Paul Stallman]

I'm with Frank on this.  They are all tools, just how we choose to use them.
 None of them are inherently evil or out to destroy our lives.

I personally have been trying to adapt to the cloud and use Google Docs, but
I even find that it has it's own problems, but their presentation tool is
simple and it works.  The word processor is good unless you like text boxes
and multiple columns and spreadsheets are spreadsheets which everyone uses
as databases anyway.

The advantage to using Google Docs versus Microsoft is it's all available to
you from anywhere.  That's what I like, it's independent of what computer
I'm on, what operating system and I can share and collaborate on documents
without the need for Sharepoint or other installed tools.

And how can you beat either FREE or $50/year for the real Google Apps
account.

It all just takes some getting used to the system and what your business
requires.  I for instance really miss the header and footer features of
Word, but I adapted with Google Docs.


Paul Stallman
Managing Director
paul at alias-solutions.com
413.364.6147
alias|solutions
www.alias-solutions.com




On Fri, Dec 11, 2009 at 9:12 AM, Frank Aronson <fsaronson at gmail.com> wrote:

>    ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
>   ** If you did, we all thank you.
>
>
>
> This will quickly be labeled off-topic, but I have to ask, why does every
> Mac vs. PC thread always devolve into a Microsoft mugging?  Quite frankly,
> it belies a lack of objectivity (would you blame OOo's presentation manager
> if that were the predominant presentation tool on the market, for
> instance?).  I have seen quite a number of problems with Macs and other
> Apple products over the years that seem to be thoroughly ignored.  I am
> hardly an apologist for Microsoft, having been a harsh critic for many
> years.  But, to borrow from a recent column regarding Windows 7 and Mac OS X
> Snow Leopard, I am an OS agnostic.  I believe that both systems (or for that
> matter, the many flavors of Linux) have their pluses and minuses and I
> happily (and sometimes unhappily - Windows Vista quickly comes to mind) work
> in both worlds (not so much Linux.  Sorry Linux guys!).
>
> As for the thumping that PowerPoint is getting in this thread, I believe it
> to be a bit disingenuous.  I have railed at the misuse of PowerPoint for
> years.  However, that criticism is not geared toward the software itself,
> but to those who misuse the software.  It's kind of like blaming the hammer
> and nail for bad construction.  It's not the tool, but the person wielding
> the tool who is ultimately at fault.  PowerPoint can be a useful tool when
> used appropriately.
>
> Just my thoughts.
>
> Frank Aronson
>
> On Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 9:02 PM, Duane Dale <duane.dale at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>   ** Be sure to fill out the survey/skills inventory in the member's area.
>>   ** If you did, we all thank you.
>>
>>
>>
>> Fixing a typo...
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 8:43 PM, Duane Dale <duane.dale at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I think my comment toward the end of the PC > iMac conversion thread got
>>> booted as off-topic.
>>> HAVING bothered to concoct a response I wanted to share, here it is under
>>> a fresh Subject:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Dec 10, 2009 at 4:00 PM, Roger Williams <roger at qux.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> ...Naw, in my book Microsoft Word (tied with Powerpoint) takes the
>>>>> prize as the
>>>>>
>>>>> most atrocious application ever to be inflicted upon the neophyte
>>>>> business
>>>>> community.  ...
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Someone who takes on PowerPoint with a vengeance is Edward Tufte. He's
>>>> the author of several wonderful books on the visual presentation of
>>>> information. In one of them he explores the Challenger space shuttle
>>>> disaster, considering how O-ring temperature behavior was analyzed, and how
>>>> it might have been viewed in ways that would have spotted the potential for
>>>> aberrant behavior at outlier temperatures.
>>>>
>>>> Tufte has a short booklet on PowerPoint in which he criticizes its basic
>>>> multi-tiered bullet-list structure. See
>>>> http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_pp
>>>>
>>>> If you click the link just above the image of the booklet's cover -- a
>>>> link labeled "PowerPoint does Rocket Science" -- you'll get a sample from
>>>> the book which is Tufte's analysis of the other space shuttle disaster
>>>> (Columbia), showing how Boeing's placement of optimistic comments within
>>>> top-level bullets held sway over more concerning comments hidden in the
>>>> lower-tier bullets (in PowerPoint slides of amazing complexity, by the way).
>>>>
>>>> Tufte is Professor Emeritus at Yale University, where he taught courses
>>>> in statistical evidence, information design, and interface design.  He does
>>>> periodic road-shows -- one-day courses in his methods, with a price that
>>>> includes a number of the books. Recommended.
>>>>
>>>> -- Duane Dale
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> The Computer Mensch
> "When not just ANY geek will do!"
> Cell: (413) 537-5238
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>
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