The concept of an office application suite is built around the fundamental notion that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts and that this interconnectivity matters more than individual excellence.
It is part of the reason why Microsoft 365 (formerly Microsoft Office) has been such a popular application suite for so long, and why many businesses will choose it over alternatives that might theoretically be better suited for a company’s needs.
Microsoft Office was not the first office suite ever made, nor even the first with major interconnectivity, with 1984’s MicroPro International StarBurst being arguably the first ever official bundle of office software and Lotus Jazz the following year being the first notable example of the latter.
In some offices, the choice of software is typically the default choice in the industry or any packages that come with the computer, but in other professions, there is a desire to use tools that are the standard in the field.
In the present day, there is a general expectation of some form of compatibility between different software packages, which alongside the relatively lower cost of office software compared to a few decades ago means that it is easier to make everyone happy.
In theory, a well-designed integrated office suite is a better choice because it means that people who need to use it only have to learn one interface to understand how to use multiple tools. This was the stated ambition of systems such as Microsoft Office’s ribbons systems.
However, integration often means choosing the whole over the sum of the parts, and if the whole is less than impressive, it can end with more frustration and less productivity.
The Perils Of Integration
The most extreme example of integrated software is office applications built into a computer system, and one of the most notable examples of this not working was released the same year as StarBurst and only months after the first release of Microsoft Word.
In 1984, one of the biggest computer companies in the world was Commodore Business Machines. They had released the Commodore 64, to this day the most successful single line of computers ever made, and were looking into attracting the small business market.
For early small business users still uncertain about whether they even needed a computer for their needs, the pitch of an affordable computer with an entire suite of business software integrated into it for around $300 seemed like a very appealing prospect.
The concept was devised by founder Jack Tramiel as part of a series of low-end computers known as the 264 Series, which included a very low-end model known as the C16 and was meant to include a more powerful top-end model known as the 364.
The central part of the line, however, was the Commodore Plus/4, designed to be a complete home office system complete with a word processor, spreadsheet, database and graphing software.
Due to internal turmoil at Commodore, this did not happen. Mr Tramiel left before the machine had been completed, and the launch of what became the Plus/4 was chaotic and ultimately disastrous.
Contemporary reviews, whilst otherwise relatively favourable to the Plus/4, became ultimately very negative due to the poor quality of the application suite, and the fact that its very existence means that other, better software would ultimately not be made for it.
The word processor could only support up to 99 lines, the spreadsheet only 50 lines and 17 columns and the database only 99 records with 17 fields of 38 characters each.
In theory, this might have been enough for some basic use, but the biggest issue with the software is that it could not be used with the most popular form of data storage for the system.
Whilst relying on cassette tapes for database storage would have been slow and arduous, not having the option entirely and requiring users to spend twice the cost of the system again for a floppy disk drive undermined the notion that it was an affordable small business system.
It was nicknamed the Minus/60 in reference to the more popular C64 and was compared to the infamous Ford Edsel car as an example of a terrible idea marketed badly.
Many small businesses used IBM PC compatibles instead, which were available by this point, or even bought a much cheaper Commodore 64 and a suite of lower-cost office software if they only had very limited business needs.
In any case, the Plus/4 was an example of the whole not being better than the sum of its parts and highlights that with the help of good IT support, a business can have the best software that allows everyone in the company to thrive.