NOW We're Talking: #18

Web-based applications that let you email docs around to others for them to edit, add to, comment on...and no worries about whether they use Word or Wordperfect?! This is bliss!

I'm sure they won't be eliminating the need for those installed desktop applications, but they are perfect for informal situations or for the initial stages of collaboration.

I tried Google Docs first, and like it very much. It let me import Word documents from my hard drive as well as create something new. Then I tried Writeboard and found the interface even easier and more welcoming than Google Docs. I could really get used to the simple keyboard strokes required to bold and italicize your text. (I love to bold and italicize. Perhaps a bit too much.)

I could see this being a great way to solicit input from far-flung staff members, brainstorm a better subject guide, or assemble reviews for the summer reading newsletter.

These are the kinds of applications that, had I merely heard about them, I might have thought "Ah, nice for those who don't have/can't afford Word," not realizing that, while they're not as sophisticated as installed desktop apps, in some ways they do much, much more. I'm so pleased that QL Learning compelled me to look closer.