Wednesday, March 12, 2003
Unbundling AppleWorks...and Office
More than just giving Mac users the coolest presentation tool in the world, here's what I think Apple is really up to by releasing Keynote:
Apple is forcing the unbundling of Microsoft Office, while at the same time creating the groundwork for AppleWorks 7 right before our eyes. Instead of releasing Keynote as part of an Office-like bundle with a professional word processor and spreadsheet, Apple only fired a single shot at Office, attacking the one area where it felt it could draw the largest distinction. Sooner or later, Apple will release versions of the other two professional applications, and they will also probably be priced at $99 each. This will mean that Apple will have managed to not only put a full professional productivity suite out there to compete with Office, but will also have managed to very stealthily put a $300 price tag on it! In order to compete, Microsoft will have almost no choice but to sell Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, unbundled, for the same $99 price tag (they've already done it with Entourage). Score one for Mac users, who will no longer have to pay for three bundled applications when they only want one or two.
But more importantly, does anyone have any doubt that when AppleWorks 7 is finally released, the new "Presentation" module will be a stripped-down simplified version of Keynote? At some point, the word processor and spreadsheet modules in AppleWorks will go the same route -- if not in AppleWorks 7, then certainly in version 8. The database module in the current version of AppleWorks is literally a stripped-down version of FileMaker Pro already, thanks to the fact that it was originally created by FileMaker's developers. One module at a time, the whole AppleWorks suite will turn into a bundled stepchild of Apple's unbundled professional productivity applications. If the rest of the Apple pro apps are as good as Keynote, I won't mind the changes to AppleWorks one bit.
This strategy will allow Apple to:
- continue to include AppleWorks for free on consumer Mac models.
- profit from selling stand-alone professional versions of Keynote, the pro word processor, and the pro spreadsheet.
- promote the similarities between the AppleWorks modules and the professional applications as a reason for AppleWorks users to spend money to upgrade one or more modules.
- start bundling some or all of these professional applications for free with professional Mac models at any point in the future, either to gain leverage in negotiations with Microsoft, or simply to boost the sales of professional machines, if needed.
Going forward, it's wise for Apple to keep its options open. In a prosperous environment, it's nice to be able to count your enemies as friends by being overly careful not to step on anyone's toes. But in this economic climate, even friends are enemies. When consumers finally go back to spending freely on technology, Apple can mend fences with its oldest friend and enemy. But for now, what more guilt-free way to gain sales than to steal them from Microsoft?
Perhaps the more immediate question is when we are actually going to be able to get our hands on AppleWorks 7. There's one thing we know for sure: it won't be built for MacOS 9.
Agree? Disagree? Think I'm crazy? Let me know: billpalmer@mac.com.
More than just giving Mac users the coolest presentation tool in the world, here's what I think Apple is really up to by releasing Keynote:
Apple is forcing the unbundling of Microsoft Office, while at the same time creating the groundwork for AppleWorks 7 right before our eyes. Instead of releasing Keynote as part of an Office-like bundle with a professional word processor and spreadsheet, Apple only fired a single shot at Office, attacking the one area where it felt it could draw the largest distinction. Sooner or later, Apple will release versions of the other two professional applications, and they will also probably be priced at $99 each. This will mean that Apple will have managed to not only put a full professional productivity suite out there to compete with Office, but will also have managed to very stealthily put a $300 price tag on it! In order to compete, Microsoft will have almost no choice but to sell Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, unbundled, for the same $99 price tag (they've already done it with Entourage). Score one for Mac users, who will no longer have to pay for three bundled applications when they only want one or two.
But more importantly, does anyone have any doubt that when AppleWorks 7 is finally released, the new "Presentation" module will be a stripped-down simplified version of Keynote? At some point, the word processor and spreadsheet modules in AppleWorks will go the same route -- if not in AppleWorks 7, then certainly in version 8. The database module in the current version of AppleWorks is literally a stripped-down version of FileMaker Pro already, thanks to the fact that it was originally created by FileMaker's developers. One module at a time, the whole AppleWorks suite will turn into a bundled stepchild of Apple's unbundled professional productivity applications. If the rest of the Apple pro apps are as good as Keynote, I won't mind the changes to AppleWorks one bit.
This strategy will allow Apple to:
- continue to include AppleWorks for free on consumer Mac models.
- profit from selling stand-alone professional versions of Keynote, the pro word processor, and the pro spreadsheet.
- promote the similarities between the AppleWorks modules and the professional applications as a reason for AppleWorks users to spend money to upgrade one or more modules.
- start bundling some or all of these professional applications for free with professional Mac models at any point in the future, either to gain leverage in negotiations with Microsoft, or simply to boost the sales of professional machines, if needed.
Going forward, it's wise for Apple to keep its options open. In a prosperous environment, it's nice to be able to count your enemies as friends by being overly careful not to step on anyone's toes. But in this economic climate, even friends are enemies. When consumers finally go back to spending freely on technology, Apple can mend fences with its oldest friend and enemy. But for now, what more guilt-free way to gain sales than to steal them from Microsoft?
Perhaps the more immediate question is when we are actually going to be able to get our hands on AppleWorks 7. There's one thing we know for sure: it won't be built for MacOS 9.
Agree? Disagree? Think I'm crazy? Let me know: billpalmer@mac.com.
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