Opinion

Microsoft's recent release of free, functioning versions of its Office apps for iOS is justifiably huge news -- especially because these smartphone apps aren't really a big deal.

Microsoft's new CEO Satya Nadella sure is fond of signaling sea changes. In his first public speech as CEO this Spring, he announced the first one: the big three Office apps, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, would be coming to the iPad for the first time.

Still, the free non-Office 365 subscription versions of those apps were Read Only, and thus, practically useless.

But Nadella wasn't done.

On Thursday, Microsoft announced that those three free apps are now available for all iOS devices (coming soon to Android smartphones and tablets, too) -- and users can create, edit, and save documents without the subscription.

Not Downplaying an Important Development

It's big news, for several reasons: Microsoft Office, of course, is the most popular productivity suite in the world, for one. Word, particularly, is one of the most important pieces of coding in the history of computing.

As a writer, I couldn't imagine getting any significant work done without Word. As much of a fan of Apple software that I am, as confident as I am in Google's abilities, and as open to trying new technological products that my job requires me to be, Word has been and continues to be the absolute standard by which I measure all other word processors.

Other word processors offer interesting perks and features, and I've tried dozens of them (especially when I had no money to buy Office). When it comes down to getting writing done, however, despite some nitpicks I find annoying about Word, it's the go-to. And I'm not a special case.

But free (technically "freemium," but close enough) Office apps for iOS is big news for a few other reasons. Yes, it signals a change in strategy for one of the most important tech companies in the world.

Free Is Big News... Except When It Isn't

How sweeping a change you can extrapolate from the release of three freemium apps is up to your imagination: The New York Times called it "a sign of seismic changes underway" in the tech world.

But in that same article, Office marketing VP John Case likened the move to "widening the funnel" -- that is, getting more people to try out Office so they can sell more subscription and desktop versions of the software, which is hardly a revolutionary idea in the tech industry.

In any case, just how "seismic" is this? Are there any indications Microsoft is going to switch all of its software to freemium? Is Microsoft opening up to Apple, or other competitors in a big way? Will I finally be able to connect and stream content from my Macbook to my Xbox without hacking away with third-party software?

Maybe Microsoft, under new leadership, finally came to the conclusion that the cost-benefit ratio for releasing decently-functioning free mobile Office apps on rival platforms isn't too bad

Others, like Microsoft analyst Wes Miller (via Computerworld) pointed out that the "free" Office apps are not really free for the type of people who benefit the most from being able to make edits on-the-go: professionals. Miller argues that the new apps do not allow advanced editing and are not permitted for use in work with commercial purposes.

With the free apps, you cannot connect to the OneDrive and Dropbox for Business cloud services, for example, and to use Office on your smartphone for commercial purposes, you're required to get an Office 365 subscription (though how that's enforced in the BYOD world is anyone's guess).

The Real Story: An Irritating Situation Finally Rectified

But another reason why Microsoft offering free Office for iOS -- even with those caveats -- got so much attention is simply because Microsoft should have done this a long time ago.

In fact, it's absurd that it took until 2014 for a "freeish" app version of Word to get a wide release for mobile devices. And tech journalists know this.

In the last newsroom I worked in, before the era of Nadella, Microsoft's reticence to release free iOS and Android Office apps (or, at that time, any version of Office for mobile devices not running Windows) was treated as farce. Frustrating, absurd, annoying, and almost pitiable -- Microsoft as the miserable, lonely kid on the playground with the only baseball that won't let anyone else play -- but farce, nonetheless.

And any liberation, no matter how small, from an obnoxious, persistent source of unnecessary annoyance comes with a rush of relief. It explains the eruption of articles about Office for iOS, so many of which were written with a tone of an exasperated finally!

But, as The Wall Street Journal's Geoffrey A. Fowler described the reality of the situation, "If it was 2011, that would be incredible news."

It would have been incredible news any time since, but after years of Microsoft's failed exclusivity strategy -- meant to pump up sales of tablets running Windows, especially the "iPad-like" Surface devices -- the release of free, functioning Office apps for iOS comes as more of a capitulation to the reality than anything else.

Once again, Microsoft finally realized that playing keep-away with Office does more damage to Microsoft's software dominance in the long run than any good it did for the company's push to market boring, unpopular computing devices: Echoes of the 1990's.

Why the Apps, Themselves, Aren't the Story

Microsoft's stubbornness and eventual about-face is made more absurd when you consider the nature of mobile Office apps (especially Word), productivity, and how mobile devices (especially smartphones) are designed to be used. Microsoft Office, and Word in particular, on mobile devices will always be a limited experience.

It's why Microsoft shouldn't worry (ahem... never should have worried) about free mobile Office apps for iOS cannibalizing its software sales. There's a reason why the current Surface "tablets" come with a non-mobile OS, an Intel processor, the full desktop version of Office, and a kickstand and keyboard/trackpad, standard.

Simply put, the new free Office apps, especially Word for iPhone, are inherently limited by the design of the machines they run on. Much more important a limitation than just the missing "premium" features for power users, there's simply a limit to how much use I -- and undoubtedly many like me -- are likely to find for the new Office apps.

Sure, I could imagine making minor edits to mostly-finished articles while commuting (though tracking changes is a premium feature and the thesaurus is nonexistent). And taking spreadsheets with me wherever I go sounds like a party waiting to happen.

But I will never type out more than a sentence or two on a touchscreen keyboard -- smartphone or tablet -- and I'm not about to bring my Bluetooth keyboard in my back pocket, just in case I can pump out a story while waiting for the dentist.

For all the wonders of the iPhone or iPad, the touchscreen input interface is still a nuisance from a productivity and speed perspective. (On that point, Microsoft's free Office Online web app -- which generated much less ballyhoo when it launched -- is actually much more of a threat to paid Office software than the mobile apps).

I can type decently fast (though not with great accuracy), but give me a touchscreen keyboard and it's like I'm an eight-year-old pecking at letters all over again.


(Photo : Flickr: Stuart Conner -- Alterations: Image Cropped )

I know "kids these days" take to touchscreen typing like second nature. And for those of you who grew up with a smartphone as your first piece of technology who will tell me anything I can do on a computer, you can do on your iPhone -- by all means, commendations are in order (though I don't believe you).

But for a large portion of people (and perhaps the majority) who use Word or Excel everyday, an app version of Office is a matter of convenience -- a bonus, a way to eek out a little more work during otherwise stare-at-the-wall downtime. It will never replace the paid versions of Office that we find absolutely imperative to own and run on our computers. Nor should it.

From the practical productivity perspective -- which is the only one that counts when it comes to software like Office -- these new free apps just aren't a big deal.

And they never would have been if Microsoft hadn't been so gratingly stingy about making and releasing them for such a stupid amount of time.