iWork Is Apple’s Thermonuclear Bomb

On September 26, 2007, I posted this: Apple To Rewrite Computing Again

My timing was waaaaay off because Apple wanted to do lots more work than I had ever anticipated (just as they did with iLife and iWork ’07).

Plus, this being the tech world, as a project is being worked on, the entire tech world around it changes — making just about every project a near-Sisyphean task. You start out with a blueprint for one screen resolution and then BAM! there are competitors suddenly out there offering crap devices at low-ball prices, ruining your projected positioning and cachet. So you start again and up the ante.

However.

I said that when Apple’s device would appear, it’d bring

the revelation of a customized version of the iWork suite for it.

Italics emphasis in the original.

I even posted this picture with this caption:

Apple’s Thermonuclear Bomb Of Mobile Applications

In another post where my timing was off — July 22, 2008: And So The iPod Air Is Coming After All! — I wrote this:

4) This device will cannibalize sales from low-end MacBooks because it will be Functional Enough — with its iWorks suite — to replace one yet much more portable. With its touchscreen, it will also be much, much fun to use. This will be the first true Cloud Computing device in that people will use it to interact with the Internet more than they currently desire to do with existing notebooks and even Asus EeePC-like “netbooks.”

Italics emphasis in the original.

Notice again I mentioned iWork!

I laid the groundwork for the eCrap of ePub for eBooks in this post on April 5, 2009: Is Adobe Hindering eBooks? where I wrote:

Do you really think a company like Apple — which helped to pioneer desktop publishing, which brought design sensibilities both to dull metal boxes and to operating systems — would rally around the current state of eBooks?

Apple already has a software tool that can be expanded to create a writer-friendly eBook creation tool: Pages.

If you haven’t seen Pages, don’t own a Mac, go to an Apple Store and play with it. It’s filled with template after template so that even near-blind design illiterates can produce a flyer or booklet or resume without revealing their suckiness at design.

It’s not too big of a stretch to see Pages extended to encompass eBook publishing — but eBook publishing based on an Apple standard that won’t throw away several hundred years of design progress.

Italics emphasis in the original.

As I learned more, on November 2, 2009 I posted: Apple Will Break Open The Digital Book Floodgates and stated:

Let me spell out what this means.

You will not need a developer to create a digital book.

Then on December 25th, 2009 in iSlate Trademark Hints At Full OS X! I stated that a portion of the Goods & Services section revealed:

That is a description of iWork!

Italics emphasis in the original.

Finally, on December 30th, 2009 I posted 2010 In Review and stated:

June: iWork went on sale, allowing anyone to create digital books just like a Vook. The RIAA and MPAA suddenly had thousands of new Copyright criminals on their hands as people embedded songs and movie clips into their digital books.

Since 2007 I have been telling all of you that iWork is coming for Apple’s next product and just how critical iWork is to Apple’s plans.

So what do I see today — in 2010 — after all that drum-banging I’ve been doing?

This revelation in The New York Times:

Another former Apple designer said a team at the company had “spent the past couple of years working on a multitouch version of iWork,” Apple’s answer to Microsoft’s Office software suite. This could indicate that Apple wants the tablet to be a fully functional computer, rather than a more passive device for reading books and watching movies. That could help justify a higher price.

Boldfaced and red emphasis added by me.

OK, are you finally — after three damned years! — getting the idea I know what the hell I’m talking about?