Suck

for 15 October 1996. Updated every TUESDAY.



	Microsoft Word meets HotMail...
	*on the web!*

	Don't shell out bucks for a shrink-wrapped
	letter-cruncher; edit on the web, free of
	charge - in exchange for a little product
	placement.

	Just as HotMail satisfies users' burning
	desire for free, web-based email,
	Wordprocessor.com offers - at no cost -
	the features of the leading standalone
	word processor. No longer need the typist
	worry about the pesky issues like disk
	space and local file management. Best of
	all, users can wordsmith without leaving
	the safety and comfort of their familiar
	browser.



	The benefit for advertisers is a new,
	print-based distribution channel for
	their brand names. Of course, those using
	Wordprocessor.com will have the
	sponsoring brands phosphorescently burned
	into their consciousness. But the real
	payoff comes when users print out their
	finished drafts, with the traditional ad
	banner appended to the top of each page.
	By employing the user's hard copy as a
	channel for advertisers, even those
	who've never used the web can be reached.
	The recipient of the printout - whether a
	credit card company representative, Dear
	John, or a term-paper grader - also
	receives the benefit of brand
	reinforcement. Brand names can also be
	inserted into the text itself for more
	subtle effect. This can be done either
	automatically or by interactively
	suggesting the appropriate branding -
	during the spell-checking process, for
	instance, or by way of a "Brand Wizard."

	Wordprocessor.com will be effective
	immediately, but will also lie in wait
	for widespread installations of network
	computers to appear. These machines will
	require web-based applications to work,
	and their users will gravitate toward the
	better-known products that have already
	met with success. Using one application
	as a starting point also lends itself to
	obvious c\|net-style horizontal spinoffs:
	Calculator.com, Spreadsheet.com,
	Database.com, and Presentation.com. These
	could be accessed at different
	"channel"-specific URLs or through a main
	site, Suite.com.

	True, it would take a small group of Java
	programmers at least a year to emulate
	the market-leading word processor
	completely. If the programming team seeks
	only to copy the five percent of the feature
	set which is actually ever used, however,
	the task shrinks to a manageable few
	weeks, and could easily be finished
	during a cut-rate summer internship
	period. If automatic brand-name insertion
	is implemented, some sort of common sense
	will have to have to be built in, to
	avoid placing a brand name in an
	unambiguously negative context.
	Otherwise, unfortunate sentences like
	"Water Joe is suitable only for radiators
	and should not be consumed by humans"
	might find their way onto the printout.
	Although some suggest all reviews are
	good reviews, advertisers may not agree.

courtesy of The Internick