

Microsoft strikes back: introduces docs for facebook - brkumar
http://docs.com/Main/Home

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emanuer
Maybe it is just me, but everyone with whom I want to collaborate on a
document is not my facebook friend and most probably never will be.

~~~
akgerber
Most people are Facebook friends with classmates.

~~~
_delirium
It seems to add another potential source of Facebook-friend awkwardness,
though, where you have to friend someone you were assigned to work on a group
project with, who isn't _really_ a friend, in order to access some docs.

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jamesbressi
Probably one of the wisest business decisions I have seen Microsoft make in
quite some time.

If you daydream a bit and think of the possible future implications with this
partnership of sorts with Facebook (who I might add has been now aggressively
taking measures to become the portal to the web) this could really be huge for
Microsoft in terms of market share, mindshare, etc. if 1. online/cloud docs
stay a relevant competitive space 2. somehow becomes a profitable model
(direct or indirect) 3. become the exclusive provider of such service for
Facebook.

Very interesting.

~~~
DrSprout
If this goes the way Microsoft and Facebook want it to, it's going to reopen
antitrust investigations. At this point Microsoft is almost going out of their
way to break cross-platform compatibility.

~~~
jamesbressi
I'm not an antitrust expert, but I've learned a little bit in the last decade+
when it first really grabbed my attention and I can't think of one example to
support your theory that this action by Microsoft is "almost going out of
their way to break cross-platform compatibility."

I suppose the stretch would be that if Facebook DID indeed become the de facto
destination and portal for the overwhelming majority of internet users and
"docs" was the only service available that some companies may be able to raise
issue, but even then I am not convinced since you don't and won't NEED
Facebook as your portal for the internet and to share productivity documents
(and I'm putting on my future goggles here).

And keep in mind this is coming from someone who is not a fan of Microsoft,
but greatly respects Bill Gates, and was a former employee of Apple.

~~~
DrSprout
Sharepoint and Outlook web access have a significantly degraded user
experience on anything but Internet Explorer running on Windows (client.) Full
outlook web access isn't even supported.

The fact that Microsoft is building their new platform on top of these
technologies is troubling.

~~~
contextfree
? Are you suggesting that the Office Web App _clients_ are being built on top
of Sharepoint and Outlook web _clients_?

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mustpax
Please note, when I visited docs.com the app was automatically authorized to
have access to my Facebook profile. I had to find the app under my Facebook
App settings and remove it manually to deauthorize it. So, Facebook 3rd party
partners do not need permission from the user to access the information?

~~~
budwin
This is Facebook's "instant personalization" feature that just launched. You
can disable it in the privacy settings/applications. (it's opt out).

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mustpax
Thanks for the heads up, I'm definitely opting out.

From the blurb that was presented when I tried to opt out: "Please keep in
mind that if you opt out, your friends may still share public Facebook
information about you to personalize their experience on these partner sites
unless you block the application."

Basically there's no way of preventing "select Facebook partners" from having
access to my profile.

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andymoe
This is a great move on Microsoft's part. The general population on HN might
not make a switch but there are a LOT of people who have no idea what google
docs are but are on Facebook all the time. Think your average farmville player
or your grandmother/parents/random cousin in high school.

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mslagh
Don't see any reason to switch from google. "You need a SharePoint server and
license in order to collaborate, and either: You need to pay license fees for
an on-premise version of Office 2010 or You need to pay an as-yet-unspecified
subscription fee." [http://industry.bnet.com/technology/10002712/the-hidden-
cost...](http://industry.bnet.com/technology/10002712/the-hidden-cost-of-
microsofts-free-online-office-suite/)

~~~
ratsbane
Good grief. $41,000 for a full set of CALs to run SharePoint. Does anyone know
if that's per server or for a given site?

I understand Microsoft's motivation in trying to sell this but it's hard to
fathom the reasoning of anyone who would buy it.

~~~
dpritchett
Sharepoint 3.0 was free to anyone with a Windows Server 2003 license. Once you
build out that infrastructure a bit the marginal costs to upgrade into MOSS
(SharePoint 2007/2010) start to look ok.

I personally prefer more socially focused solutions (e.g. Jive) but SharePoint
is making huge strides as both a collaboration backbone and as a document
management platform.

Some Fortune 500 companies are now building new intranet apps around
SharePoint rather than standalone. There are a number of off the shelf
solutions available as SharePoint "web parts".

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vlad
I used to have an obsession about reserving a great name or two whenever a new
service came out. I worked on my own shareware application, and I never knew
where I would branch out for my next app.

I registered apps.facebook.com/docs when Facebook Apps first came out.
Facebook took that name (the Canvas URL) away from me within days, however.

I still have my three letter twitter account name, as well as usernames like
"Call" and "Cards" on one of the biggest and most-advertised poker sites, from
when they were in beta. I've found it interesting to see which companies would
take back their names after realizing they let a good one go, and which would
not.

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bsk26
Broken on OS X Firefox.

~~~
tree_of_item
Mission accomplished!

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armandososa
Aren't most of the concerns people have with cloud computing related to
privacy? I won't ever trust Mr. Zuckerberg with anything slightly private.

And I'm not very concerned with privacy in general.

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michael_dorfman
This is very interesting, indeed.

I think it may take a bit of time to anticipate the consequences.

