And now they have bought a company which has developed a sophisticated online word processor.
The idea of online word of mouth got a very positive response, but the actual mechanism of the site proved to be painful, noisy, spammy.
Mine went from shipping container to functional machine in under four minutes, including fitting a loaded battery for eight-plus hours of work, initial registration, and access to an online word processing site.
And while Google Docs online spreadsheet and word processing software is stripped down (when compared with Office), it does make it easier for workers to share a single online document and collaborate on it with colleagues--something that gets complicated fast when multiple copies of a Microsoft Word document are blasting around the office.
The online versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access seem every bit as good as their desktop counterparts.
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While Google can launch online spreadsheet and word processing applications, Microsoft can't respond without damaging its powerful Office software business.
But the distraction of label mergers caused the album to get lost in the shuffle, and The Format was soon left to promote its music through touring, online promotion and word of mouth.
On Wednesday, Nov. 16, I will participate in a panel discussion at the Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Summit in Las Vegas to talk about the efficacy of online versus offline word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing campaigns.
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In another sign of the times, Microsoft is much more generous in offering free online versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, though these come with very limited functionality and carry (for now) in-house ads seeking to make you a subscriber.
Give credit to chat boards, online ratings systems and word of mouth among startup executives.
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For instance, four years ago Google launched online knockoffs of Microsoft Word and Excel (albeit with less functionality), with no response from Microsoft to protect those franchises.
Google ( GOOG - news - people ) launched online knockoffs of Microsoft Word and Excel (albeit with less functionality), with no response from Microsoft to protect those franchises.
The Kolkata, India-based brothers first created a Web site for playing an online version of the word game Scrabble several years ago, "just for the love of the game, " says Jayant, 21, who also runs an offshore Web development firm with his brother.
That package includes online e-mail, word processing, spreadsheets and document sharing, much like Microsoft's cash cow Office suite.
There is more word of mouth online about Cheerios than Disney World.
It is easier, happily, for independent authors to get a book into online bookshops and to encourage word of mouth from fans.
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With the simplicity of spreading word of mouth online, this in effect is an accelerator to these earlier incarnations of fundraising and this form of campaign promotion.
It was a combination of style, online buzz coupled with strong word-of-mouth experience, user-friendliness, and innovation that reached across all of the demographic boards and into the everyday lives of millions.
You can insert an image into Word directly from an online service such as Flickr, for instance, without first saving it onto your computer.
Sharing content with friends online is even more valuable as verbal word of mouth.
Most people believe that at least 50 percent of word of mouth messages happen online.
Anonymous is more of a nebulous network of hacktivists and online pranksters than an organization, so word of where collective action is going tends to come in small, cacophonous waves.
Dr Sian Pullen of WWF told BBC News Online: "The use of the word 'disaster' to describe what has happened is justified".
Patient word of mouth, which is now online formally and informally, can make or break referrals.
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The two 50-minute online test sessions assessed "the old spreadsheet, word-processing and presentation applications which I was teaching 15 years ago, plus a bit of e-mail".
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As seemingly simple as it is to go to Merriam Webster Online, we once could and still can understand a word in its context.
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The Best Buy-owned CinemaNow is flashing a Disc to Digital beta page that offers downloads of a player for Windows or Mac PCs that not only allows access to one's UltraViolet library both online or offline, but also insert any DVD (no word on Blu-ray support yet) and convert it to an SD or HD UltraViolet copy.
HelloGiggles is one of the best examples of how the online landscape for women is changing due to fast and effectively strong word of mouth.
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