Google readies PowerPoint killer
Slideshow program will be with you, Presently — SURE AS EGGS ARE EGGS, it's been known for a long while that Google will at some point take on PowerPoint with a web-based presentations package. The breaking news is that the coming-out party for the software is any day now.
Context & Ripple Effects
Google’s presentation effort has been building through earlier moves onto PowerPoint’s turf and reports of a Google presentation application. A June PowerPoint preview in Gmail also indicated that presentation files were becoming part of Google’s web workflow.
The approaching launch turns that scattered evidence into a direct office-software challenge: Google is extending its web application lineup into a format closely associated with PowerPoint.
First-order effects
- Google gains a web-based presentation product to place alongside its existing applications, while PowerPoint faces a named competitor built around browser delivery.
- Users working with presentation files gain a potential Google-based alternative rather than relying solely on PowerPoint software.
Second-order effects
- Google’s office-suite proposition becomes more complete, making the question raised in whether Google Office can catch on more consequential for buyers evaluating web applications.
- Presentation-file handling becomes a competitive point of integration for Google’s email and productivity products, rather than a standalone desktop-software task.
Third-order effects
- If Google can make presentations a credible web application, office productivity competition shifts further from individual desktop programs toward connected suites delivered through the browser.
- The contest increasingly centers on whether incumbent file formats and installed software outweigh the convenience of integrated online workspaces.
The trend: Google’s move into presentations is part of the broader shift from standalone desktop productivity software toward integrated web-based office suites.