There are some viewers for some versions of Word for some platforms. You can get a Word viewer for Windows, sure. I still can't get a Viewer for the newest Word for Mac.
Additionally, there's a world of difference between being able to view it everywhere, and being able to edit it anywhere....
Well, going along the BWM theory, but let's shift it more to Microsoft's aspects...
What if BMW created new type of fuel. It's not a better fuel, just different. They get it put into all normal gas stations, and open gas stations that sell only it.
Now, all of the new BMWs run on this new fuel. Not much of a problem there. Now, say, for a year, BMWs are really cheap. Lots of people buy them, so more people use this new fuel. As more people use the fuel, fewer gas stations would sell the normal fuel. More people would buy BMWs, simply for convienince. As more people bought BMWs, more gas stations would surve fuel only for them, so more people would have to buy BMWs, or have to get fuel far out of thier way.
Microsoft not releasing thier doc specs would be like BMW not telling anyone how to use this fuel. The only reason to do it would be to make sure people only bought BMWs. However, it's using thier dominance in the fuel supply to dictate what car you'd buy, which is bad.
What's even worse, is if BMW created another different fuel, and had their new BMWs use that fuel. They stopped making the old one, and started selling the new one instead. They get all gas stations that sold thier fuel to switch. Now, everyone has to buy the newest car, so they can continue driving. That's the problem Microsoft makes with thier anti-backward compatable document formats. While it's great for them, since yo need the newest product, it's using their control to force consumers to buy something, and that's also wrong.
Slashdot Mirror
Better yet, just make your coffee with Krank2O. You'll have to drink that much less!
There are some viewers for some versions of Word for some platforms. You can get a Word viewer for Windows, sure. I still can't get a Viewer for the newest Word for Mac.
Additionally, there's a world of difference between being able to view it everywhere, and being able to edit it anywhere....
Well, going along the BWM theory, but let's shift it more to Microsoft's aspects...
What if BMW created new type of fuel. It's not a better fuel, just different. They get it put into all normal gas stations, and open gas stations that sell only it.
Now, all of the new BMWs run on this new fuel. Not much of a problem there. Now, say, for a year, BMWs are really cheap. Lots of people buy them, so more people use this new fuel. As more people use the fuel, fewer gas stations would sell the normal fuel. More people would buy BMWs, simply for convienince. As more people bought BMWs, more gas stations would surve fuel only for them, so more people would have to buy BMWs, or have to get fuel far out of thier way.
Microsoft not releasing thier doc specs would be like BMW not telling anyone how to use this fuel. The only reason to do it would be to make sure people only bought BMWs. However, it's using thier dominance in the fuel supply to dictate what car you'd buy, which is bad.
What's even worse, is if BMW created another different fuel, and had their new BMWs use that fuel. They stopped making the old one, and started selling the new one instead. They get all gas stations that sold thier fuel to switch. Now, everyone has to buy the newest car, so they can continue driving. That's the problem Microsoft makes with thier anti-backward compatable document formats. While it's great for them, since yo need the newest product, it's using their control to force consumers to buy something, and that's also wrong.