Will Decentralized Office Apps Replace Microsoft and Google?

• Toshendra Kumar Sharma
• January 16, 2020

It is an undeniable fact that the tech world is one of the most dynamic segments in the entire universe. The situation today is such that the whole world is suddenly behind a particular technology, and the next minute, the same technology becomes obsolete. One such new concept that has emerged is the DApps or decentralized applications. These are a novel breed of applications that are not owned or controlled by a single authority that cannot have downtime or cannot be shut off.

The decentralized applications space is dominated by two categories, such as DeFi (Decentralized Finance) and Gaming. This holds true for blockchains such as Ethereum and EOS. Decentralized Finance has been making waves in the past several months after the surge in platforms and products that offer DeFi services. It is a conventional financial that is built on the blockchain- specifically Ethereum. These are open-source protocols or modular frameworks that help create and issue digital assets and provide improved access to financial services.

The first DApp introduced to the world was the Bitcoin. Based on the scenario that DApps are infused, they can be classified into three segments, and these are also their potential use cases.

1. Business Process Management

Businesses can integrate DApps into their processes to streamline them without human intervention. It makes use of smart contracts to solve critical issues and enhance process efficiency. For example, logistics companies are integrating RFID chips into shipments, and these are scanned at the destination airports, and the payment is then settled automatically through a smart contract between the buyer and the seller.

2. Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)

DAO is a completely new phenomenon that involves setting up faceless organizations without leaders. These can work as a corporate and run through rules that are defined on the blockchain by programming languages. Each and every aspect such as what business segment the firm will operate in, who the members will be, how the members will vote, and how the token value can be exchanged can be programmed on the blockchain to help run the organization smoothly. Once the blockchain is deployed in these organizations, they can work worldwide, without any trouble riding on the blockchain bandwagon.

3. Money Management and Transfer

DApps help smoothen money transfer across the globe. We have already witnessed the benefits in the form of cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin. With a blockchain network and its crypto token, decentralized applications can speed up the transfer, management, and lending of money by eliminating middlemen and enhancing security due to the consensus mechanism that cannot be changed without a majority.

Decentralized Office Apps- Why Use them?

The one-word answer to this question is ‘privacy.’ As stated in Google’s terms of service:

When you upload, submit, store, send or receive content to or through our Services, you give Google (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works, communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content.”

This applies to any text that you write in a Google Doc, or even the photos or anything that you send in Gmail. Basically, this will cover each and every data that you put through Google. We will now list down some of the popular decentralized office apps. All these apps are based on Blockstack. With this platform, you will get a single universal login and a private data locker that is secured by blockchain-enabled encryption and security.

The perfect decentralized app must be such that it helps maintain privacy and lets people have control over their data.

Some of the renowned decentralized office apps are:

Arcane Sheets- Spreadsheets

These provide the same fundamental features that MS Excel boasts of. It offers options for inputting formulae, creating validation rules, creating graphs and charts, and number formatting. A big advantage provided by Arcane Sheets is that it lets you create pivot tables if you need to analyze large datasets, especially in accounting. These can be exported to an Excel file if you want to share your sheet with one who doesn’t use Arcane.

Arcane Docs

These allow you to create your own document or import an MS Word document and start working on it Visually, the interface is similar to MS Word, as it offers similar features and text formatting options. It lets you insert the table of contents, images, tables, references, etc. Arcane Docs lets you export your work to a .docx file. This will be helpful if you need to send it as an email attachment. It allows lets you share a link to the document.

Arcane Photos- Storing Images

It is the most basic of decentralized apps that we have tested. On the bright side, it offers you 10 GB of free storage. It doesn’t really offer any other features apart from letting you store your photos privately. Google photos, on the other hand, provide the option of creating albums, animations, and collages. It is great for your travel pictures, and it allows you to group photos based on location.

One drawback with the Google photo app is that it assumes the rights over your images as soon as you upload them. As photos are very personal for many of us, privacy, the one feature of Arcane Photos, is a huge factor to consider.

Conclusion

Though decentralized applications offer many options for modern businesses today, they are still very new. They still need to develop many users if they aim to develop the same levels of sophistication that Microsoft and Google have managed to attain. Though decentralized office apps are capable in their own ways, they still need to be enhanced a lot further to reach the level offered by popular office apps such as Microsoft and Google.

To learn more about blockchain certifications, you can check out Blockchain Council.