Since the release of MobileMe’s Mail and Address Book applications, it has become more apparent that Apple is making a general shift to web-based applications. The folks at 9to5mac claim to have gotten word that Apple is preparing to announce a web-based version of the upcoming iWork suite of applications at the upcoming Macworld.
They maintain that the next version of iWork will be hitting the cloud, and not just for storage. Numbers, Pages, and Keynote which is noted to see some exciting upgrades, will be entirely browser-based. Previous information had revealed talks of an entirely “Webkit-based” platform following Apple’s use of the SproutCore framework for MobileMe.
While this information may have been expected as a natural transition, a few pertinent questions remain, including; will there be offline access to the applications and will there be support of the iPhone or iPod touch? 9to5 insists that they will fervently attempt to provide more information and go on to mention the clue word, Magic.
8 Comments to “Apple to Announce Web-based iWork at Macworld?”
This makes sense to me, it just HAS to be stable and NOT run like Mobile Me did this past summer. This HAS TO WORK !
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Stable, fast, easy to use, secure, cheap, relevant and it needs to look nice too. I’ll take less graphics in my UI for some snappier response times.
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I just blogged about this myself… It’s always dangerous trying to predict what Apple will do, but I don’t think there’s any way they’re releasing a web-only version as a replacement for the existing desktop software. They still don’t have the bugs worked out of MobileMe webmail!
An additional feature for MobileMe subscribers? That sounds plausible; though I remain skeptical at this point of Apple’s ability to actually deliver compelling browser-based software.
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“…though I remain skeptical at this point of Apple’s ability to actually deliver compelling browser-based software.” — Me too Ryan… Me too.
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If it is software that includes online features, that would be great. I would welcome it. But if it is Only web-based and only usable online, and not an offline program I can install on my computer, I’ll use something else.
What if, for some reason, I can’t get online at work and need to get my work done, a web-based iWork would be useless to me. Imagine a company with 200 employees on their computers with a network failure. Imagine the lost productivity and money. I would have no part in a completely web-based iWork.
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Thanks for information
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sounds bogus to me.
first off, the mail and address book where there before the switch to Mobileme. all of it was pretty much. all they did was change the name and exactly how it was running but the means were there all along
and why only rumors about iwork, ilife has been around longer. why aren’t they taking it web only also.
maybe because neither is really practical. i mean have any of you used these programs
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Seth says it’s iMovie too. I believe him
— http://www.9to5mac.com/node/2826
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