A look at uLyfe Docs vs. Microsoft & FaceBook's Docs.com

Business as usual, the great Microsoft vs. Google battle ensues! 

Google (and Apple) can't seem to make anything successful without Microsoft releasing their own spin on it. Google search led to Bing, the iPod led to Zune, and now Google Docs have led to Microsoft's collaboration with Facebook, Docs.com.

View the article here

Using FaceBook as a gateway to their 400+ Million users, Microsoft is releasing "Docs.com" a competitor to Google Docs. Dan Nasowitz hit the nail on the head when he said the web is moving towards social. However the roll out with this feature on FaceBook will be hampered down by a typical Microsoft approach:

While all Facebook users will be able to view and comment on documents right away, only a limited number of people will gain the ability to upload or create documents. Sign up quick, it sounds like a first-come, first-served situation. Microsoft will continue to roll the full set of capabilities out to Facebook users over time, as it tests the service.

Docs will also use Facebook's new auto-login feature, so you don't have to deal with the Facebook Connect rigamarole, and will come in handy for the many millions of users that treat Facebook as a work or education tool. College students can pass around and share homework. Businesses that use Facebook but not Gmail get instant access to Web-editable documents.

Now to take a stab at this - my theory is they just do not want to commit to the funding required to prop the resources necessary for 400 Million users to start simultaneously editing documents on the level Google users are, however let's look at the uLyfe spin  and compare Google vs. Facebook vs. uLyfe, the goal of this is to show the UniversityLyfe approach to social services, such as document hosting.

First lets look at what UniversityLyfe has to offer:

• Cloud Hosting: Your document is accessible anywhere in the world, backed up on multiple servers
• All NPO accounts can host documents - Students/Non-Students, Greeks, Sports Teams, Registered Student and Non-Profit Organizations
• All standard office documents, pdf's, audio, video and image formats are supported including Archives like ZIP/RAR
• Documents can be uploaded privately or publically, private documents are only viewable by account owners
• Documents uploaded publicalally are accessible by Fans, Members, Admins and Non-Fans and also show in all Fans, Members, and Admins activity feed's and on your personal/organizations' wire so visitors can see a history of your uploads
• Verified Organizations documents' show up in the Community Activity Feed as well so non-uLyfe members can gain access to them
• Documents can be organized in Folders

Ok this is great and all, but how does this compete with Google Docs where you could edit the document real time?

Well we are definitely aware of the gaps here, and even UniversityLyfe uses Google Docs!  BUT UniversityLyfe is not intended to be a do-it-all here tool, but instead to be a "let's share this on UniversityLyfe" tool. Why reinvent the wheel? But most of our users are likely using Microsoft Office - and don't want to have to get a Gmail ID just to give a document to a friend, however they may not want to give that person their email if their NOT their friend (like that weird class project partner you got stuck with), what if I could offer you an alternative, that you are already using for other things? Like your organizations event reminders, a personal calendar, and getting photos from event coverage.

Well what about using Docs.com and being able to use the actual Microsoft Office suite to edit my documents real time? And share them with my friends via FaceBook - heck we can even comment on them on FaceBook!

My rebuttal shall be broken down into several points:

• Microsoft Office is quite expensive, do you really think their just going to "let you" edit documents for free all the sudden? I specifically pasted an excerpt of the Fast Business article because it pointed out "businesses can start editing web accessible documents" - plus they actually said "that don't use Google Docs"; this is similar to saying if your NOT on MySpace - you can join FaceBook. I myself do not need Microsoft acting as my Parents as well.

• How many documents do you really want to share with the hundreds of people on your FaceBook that you don't know? Admit it - you pulled a MySpace, and randomly accepted friends, because, well your interested in other peoples lives... for a few minutes at least. BUT are you willing to let ALL of your friends get access to your documents (homework in the suggestion in that article) - and risk being accused of cheating on an assignment, or worse - relying on some one else's work? Do you want your parents, co-workers, and even people you don't know, or specifically do not want to see your work (or have access to it) to be able to gain access?

• FaceBook's documents feature is and will be used by the latest class/generation of people to uphold the power of the book, those whom are 25+ whom already are paying for office either at home or on their employers licenses - and I am not saying not every college students, heck every PC owner doesn't use Microsoft Office - but is everyone 18-24 on FaceBook going to take a break from 4/20 to re-learn how to use online document editing?

So what exactly is the point?

My point, heck the UniversityLyfe approach is simple: why reinvent the wheel? This concept has been applied to every crevice of the website, for instance we used JavaScript Photo/Video publishing whereas FaceBook by default makes you install Java (which can be a pain) and special plug-ins for their Video Player (when is Microsoft Silverlight going to be forced?!) then if you can't do that easily, you can select 1-5 individual photos (pain in the ass), and FaceBook's video upload? Don't even get me started. You already make documents, you just need to get them in the hands of other people.  

Here's how we help you do this:

Courses - You can copy your class schedule into your UniversityLyfe Community and create virtual online classes - which are then searchable by your classmates (and your friends see you did so on your activity feeds/wires), you can all then share documents within this virtual classroom


Work Spaces - Similar to Courses, you can create a virtual project space and invite friends, whom then can all upload documents, great for group projects where PowerPoints, Word Documents and support media like Photos and Videos need to be supplied 


Profiles - You can upload documents on your computer, like notes you took during class, for a friend who missed them

Fan Pages -  Say you have an application for a pledge to fill out, or documents for registration of a tournament or to book a booth at a convention - host them here and make them easily accessible by sending users to your vanity URL like uLyfe.com/somefrat

Media Support -  What if you are a video/audio, Web Developer? These are things that can't be edited in 'real-time' (yet), but for now - we can let you access them in real-time. 


Simple Privacy - Got documents on your Non-Student/Student account? Simply enable/disable certain friends lists' from accessing documents all together!


Our goal is to make things convenient and accessible - not change your entire computing experience, we want to get you back out into the world, not keep you on the computer longer!

- Join now @ http://uLyfe.com/