Codswallop just published a list of the “100 Web Apps for Everything You Will Possibly Need.”
It’s intriguing. And I found a few I’d never heard of.
But I’m curious; are Web Apps really the answer for freelancers?
They typically offer low-cost (or no-cost) functionality. And let’s face it; low cost is good. Low cost is our friend.
Yet for core applications, I’m not convinced. I sometimes use Google Docs when writing on my laptop, and while it’s handy, I can’t imagine writing with it fulltime. The back-and-forth lag is noticeable.
Still, Web Apps make collaboration among multiple people very easy. Data resides in a single repository (not multiple locations). And because they’re hosted, updates, bug fixes, improvements are all handled on the backend.
In some situations, they make a whole lot of sense. Outside of WordPress, is anyone making extensive use of Web Apps for core writing and business functions?
Keep writing, Tom Chandler
[tags]webapps, freelancing, writing, copywriting[/tags]
Hi Tom,
For me they are real. I find the release from the desktop liberating. It easily outweighs the few extra features the desktop apps have.
-Yoav
I’m with you Tom, just using google docs when on the laptop for easy back-and-forth between the desktop. The lag makes a big difference to productivity, and there’s always a feature or two missing that you’re used to.
If your main motive for using web apps is price, I think you could equally well go with open source applications, like open office. I believe that sharing and access are the main motivations for web apps. And the fact that you don’t need to install a lot of software on your computer.
As an interesting side note, Firefox 3.0 will have support for using web apps when off line (don’t know exactly how). That could solve a lot of the issues with web apps, including lag.
Interesting. I’m considering how to share documents with my clients using collaborative webapps like SharePoint and Google Docs. Is anyone doing this, and what has your experience been?
Some WebApps seem to really hit a sweet spot. Basecamp leaps to mind, and it’s hard to deny the utility of a hosted CRM solution to a far flung salesforce.
Yet I admit I don’t understand all the noise over hosted “office suites” (essentially WebApp replacements for MS Office and Open Office).
I can’t imagine an Excel power user living with an application that robs a few seconds from him every time he updates the page.
As for sharing with clients, I’ve tried it twice with Google Docs. Once it was a success, but I also learned that your client better have some technical chops (e.g. a Google account and the brains to exercise it).
Otherwise, you’re creating a nice (unpaid) technical support position for yourself.
I look forward to more discussion around this. For example, has anyone successfully invited a client to use collaborative software (like Basecamp, calendar, etc)?
I’ve used Basecamp and Google docs – collaboration is the key, when someone’s writing and someone else is handling collateral materials, and a third person does the actual posting to the venue, you just can’t be sending docs by email everywhere.
And that’s just the team, the clients get to see it too, until they tire of editing or reading, or else just start trusting you – actually I think now putting it up in basecamp wears them daown faster than letting them have a Word doc to ruin over a weekend ;)
Ross: I’ll have to play with Basecamp again. I played with it briefly, but didn’t automatically see the benefits.
Probably stuck in a certain way of working with my clients…
I think if your serious about project management, you should use MS Project. Usually comes as part of the whole suit but I’ve seen it sold on its own for about $20. Worth it, lets you specify contingencies, resources and adaptive timelines that can auto update based on what you say has been completed late or early.
Tom: MS Project is powerful, but it also seems like massive overkill for the average writer who’s just trying to shepherd a small project to completion.