Google's Writely, and more

There is lots of conversation lately about is Google evil? What if Google decided to be evil (via Google Blogoscoped)?

But no one argues much about whether Google is useful.

I am a great fan of GMail, and have, one by one, abandoned all my other accounts. So simple, so efficient -- and I love search, don't sort. Some of you may have noticed that I now have email at my domain, which is thanks to GMail Domains Beta. I'm amazed that they let me in, this little one-person operation -- but I'm delighted. It's even better than regular GMail.

Do I mind the ads?

Could anyone who has ever used Yahoo Mail or Hotmail object to the unobtrusive -- and even sometimes interesting -- Google ads?

I signed onto Writely before Google bought it (I think someone at The Well pointed me to it) and now use it almost exclusively. When I first heard the prediction that one day we would do most of our work online, and our computers would be used mostly as terminals, I thought that was nuts -- of course I would want my own software on my own machine with all my own files. And if I were still working with client files and confidential information, I would no doubt still feel that way.

But now I'm at home, and have nothing that must be so guarded. I've experienced several hard drive crashes in the intervening years, and lost files due to my not-atypical haphazard backup practices. I've had TypePad crash repeatedly in the middle of preparing complicated posts.

Writely has never crashed on me, and when my browser has, the Writely document comes up exactly how I left it. Exactly how I left it, and accessible from any computer.

It was initially a bit buggy; less so every day. It offers direct publishing to some blog hosts -- not TypePad at present, which is not a problem for me. I prefer cut & paste and publish to draft in any case. Nice clean interface, all the usual bells & whistles, spellcheck, collaboration, and tagging! What more could one want in a word processor?

Only recently did I discover that I can offer it to you, even though it's currently not open for new registrations. The Writely Blog tells me:

No need to wait until Writely registration opens up again. When you have a Writely account, you have the power . . . Just add them as collaborators on a Writely document and click "OK" to email them. You can invite up to 50 new people by adding them as collaborators to Writely documents.

So, all 50 of you who would like a Writely account, drop me a comment or an email and tell me where to send the invitation. If GMail still requires invitations (surely not?) I can send you one of those, too.

[crossposted to Blogging Blog]

Comments

[Kim]

Oooh, you've gotten me curious about writely. I wouldn't mind taking a look at things in there. :P

[Patia]

Hmmm. I'll take a Writely invite .... You can send it to myfirstname at myfirstnameandlastname.com. That's a Gmail domain account!

[gkdhjncu]

I would be really grateful for a Writely invite...the suspense is terrible waiting for the move to Google's servers :-)

If you would, please send one to:
gkdhjncu@trashmail.net

Many thanks!

[Ham]

Well, I am glad I breezed through. Yes please, can I have an invite? Address is londondailyphoto@gmail.com, many thanks for this public service!

[Ham]

Well, I am glad I breezed through. Yes please, can I have an invite? Address is londondailyphoto@gmail.com, many thanks for this public service!

(and of course, if it is anything like Gmail the nice Google fairy will come along at night and fill up your invitations bucket again)

[Matisse Enzer]

Sounds worth checking out. I'd appreciate an invite SVP....

[Matisse Enzer]

oops.. didn't show email address: matisse @gmail.com

[Robin]

I'm on the Writely waiting list too. Have you tried ThinkFree yet? It's an open source version of Office.

[Michael K]

Sweet! I'd love an invitation:
yaywritely.5.chitown@neverbox.com

Thanks!

[Ricardo Valfreixo]

Please send me a invitation too. I would love to use writely.

valfreixo@gmail.com

[tjvm]

If you have another Writely invitation, I'd like to check it out, too.

tvanmeir __at__ gmail (dot) com

[Michael]

I too would like an invite, if you are still offering, for Writely. Thank you.

Not.4.Temporary 'AT' gmail 'DOT' com

[Christopher]

Hi, hopefully I am not too late on this but I would love an invite. Christopherjamex (at) gmail (dot) com
Thank you so much in advance
-Chris

[Chris]

Hi. i'd appreciate a writely invite, if time permits. :) Thanks for your generosity!

[Chris]

Oops! Sorry - the email address for the invite is cskirby@gmail.com. Thanks again

[Chris]

Oops! Sorry - the email address for the invite is cskirby@gmail.com. Thanks again

[Riccardo]

Hi, if you have any invite for writely, I'd like to be invited ^_^
I'll share my invitations too as soon as I receive one.
My e-mail is
riquito [at] gmail.com

thank you too for let me discover gmail domains: seems interesting!

[James]

Hey there-- I'd really, really appreciate an invite if anyone would be so kind. Thanks!!!

-JG

james_guss@yahoo.com

[Caygull]

I would also like one !
Caygul(at)gmail(dot)com

[rose]

If you still have invitations for Writely I would love to get one.

rmcorrigan AT gmail DOT com

Thanks much!

RC

[MaXXe]

Collaborative editing with real time conflict resulution is something no other software can offer these days... if there are any spare invites, that would be GREAT! And I promise I will come back to this site and invite other folks too :-)

Thanks!

massimomissam (at) gmail (dot) com

[MikeT]

I would definitely appreciate a Writely invitation if at all possible.Thanks!!

Blozout(at)gmail(.)com

[Bill Quach]

I would like an invitation if you have any lefted. Thank You Very Much.
-billquach@gmail.com

[Bill Quach]

Umm... yah. My email is billquach@gmail.com not -billquach@gmail.com. So yah. Thanks!

[Olivier]

I would be also happy to receive a Writely invitation. Thanks a lot for your help.

You can send your invitaion to: