2005 Prediction

My prediction is that Google will continue to do what it has been doing, without many naming it as such: replacing Microsoft Office with a mostly-online suite. I wouldn't be suprised to see a browser from Google, not in order to compete with IE but in order to compete with Word -- that is, a browser (or a line of plug-ins for IE, FireFox, Safari, etc.) that would support not just WYSIWYG editing but also that which is still missing from the online document-editing experience: WYSIWYG printing.

I'm typing this post into a WYSIWYG editor in a page served up by blogger.com, but I have as yet no way to print out exactly what I enter on such a web page, because current browsers assume what you are printing is just a web page and so they make Big Brother assumptions about how to print the page, e.g. showing the URL in the footer when you print. Fix that, give me a browser which can be directed to print a web page according to how I really want (and a web application that can let me specify the layout of a page relative to physical paper, etc.), and I no longer need Word for simple documents. Instead I'll be able to edit, save, and print documents online, just as I can organize and use emails with Gmail.

Speaking of Gmail, I'd expect to see improved contact organization abilities in Gmail or in some related service. Also, I need an online appointment planning tool hooked into Gmail.

Such changes would make Outlook and Word unnecessary for 80% of the work of nearly all computer users; and 100% of the work for 80% of users.

The big wins for consumers: less software to buy; less software to load; less software to crash; and seamless online data storage -- meaning my documents and contact info and appointment schedules would be usable at the end of any ethernet wire or wi-fi signal.