I’ve been engaging in a really spirited and stimulating debate with a number of colleagues about word processing and whether Open Office or Microsoft Office or any other office suite is more or less suited to preparing today’s students for the world of work. In the middle of that dialog I’ve been thinking about how writing and word processing have evolved and how we’re really at a paradigm shift where more and more of what we read has never been published in a traditional format and in many cases never will be. I have to say that I’ve been using Open Office Writer, Microsoft Word and more recently Google Docs for word processing. But, I’ve also been using WordPress and Blogger too. This link to an article by Jonathan Swartz, CEO of Sun was a great read today and in it he talks about a number of these threads and his thoughts on the direction this is going and the experience of Sun Microsystems.
With on-line media, there are no trucks to maintain, no 500 kilo newspaper rolls to purchase, no journalists or printers to pay. On-line media, both demographically and statistically, attracts more viewers across the world, and more viewer minutes. What was laughable a few years ago has become big business – with real profits.