Letters to the Editor
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iWork =/= Office
I agree that I don't think iWork (or AppleWorks) is a direct competitor to Microsoft Office. The price alone sets them apart ($79 vs. up to $300 or more, pirated copies notwithstanding.) Also, Office has a lot of packed-in advanced features and bloat that a lot of people don't want or need to deal with. I use InDesign when I'm putting together a layout project; I use iWork to type up a quick letter or edit my very simple financial spreadsheet. Office would just be too much to handle those simple tasks.
Also, I honestly shudder to think the world is really moving away from desktop applications. Web and network apps have their place, sure, but even in the best conditions web access can be slow or interrupted at times, making simple work on a document difficult. Also, I don't want all my personal documents sitting on someone else's server outside of my control, no matter how secure it is. And finally, there are a lot of times I throw my work onto my laptop and go somewhere specifically without wireless access, just so I can get away from all the distractions of being constantly connected to the rest of the world. Nope, I'll stick with slim little desktop apps like iWork, thanks. :)