That's an interesting point. If Open Office could market that and take a strong hold before Office 2007 has a position of prominence in developing world business, that'd be great - doubtful though.
To clarify, he is disadvantaged by learning a different application that the majority of his peers does not use, not by the functionality of the application itself.
Great article. Hits it right on the nose.
It's especially important to underscore the point that ordinary Joe is disadvantaged by using Open Office in a world where even rudimentary computer office skills are highly prized. It does little good from him to know how to use Open Office when Microsoft Office is by and far the norm. Sure, they're not that much different, but bridging the two is just one more obstacle for a beginner or one who doesn't have frequent opportunity to build skills. Perhaps Open Office could work on a skin that would make bridging the gap less of an issue?
As for distribution, I like the Freedom Toaster concept (freedomtoaster.org). It gets at the reality of poor internet connectivity. However, it does require some organizational/governmental support to grow the interest and demand .
Not only is pirated MS software preinstalled with "extras". It's also prone to grow it's "extras" bundle by not being able to stay patched and updated. Ever tried to upgrade to XP SP2 or download virus software upgrades on dialup? Don't. You won't be able to afford the connection time or electricity if either of those can actually stay stable for that long (speaking from experience in an East African capital city).
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That's an interesting point. If Open Office could market that and take a strong hold before Office 2007 has a position of prominence in developing world business, that'd be great - doubtful though.
To clarify, he is disadvantaged by learning a different application that the majority of his peers does not use, not by the functionality of the application itself.
Great article. Hits it right on the nose. It's especially important to underscore the point that ordinary Joe is disadvantaged by using Open Office in a world where even rudimentary computer office skills are highly prized. It does little good from him to know how to use Open Office when Microsoft Office is by and far the norm. Sure, they're not that much different, but bridging the two is just one more obstacle for a beginner or one who doesn't have frequent opportunity to build skills. Perhaps Open Office could work on a skin that would make bridging the gap less of an issue? As for distribution, I like the Freedom Toaster concept (freedomtoaster.org). It gets at the reality of poor internet connectivity. However, it does require some organizational/governmental support to grow the interest and demand . Not only is pirated MS software preinstalled with "extras". It's also prone to grow it's "extras" bundle by not being able to stay patched and updated. Ever tried to upgrade to XP SP2 or download virus software upgrades on dialup? Don't. You won't be able to afford the connection time or electricity if either of those can actually stay stable for that long (speaking from experience in an East African capital city).