The new division line is collaboration tools

Veterans of the Windows era (and veterans of the DOS era) know all too well that the dividing line between tribes was the file format. Today, it is not the file format that locks in customers, but the ability to collaborate.

In the PC age, application programs ran on individual PCs, stored files on PCs, and used proprietary file formats. Microsoft Word used its own format, WordPerfect used its own format, Wordstar used its own format... you get the idea. Spreadsheets used their own formats too.

One could have several word processors installed on a single PC. Even though these programs ran on the same PC and stored their files on that PC, it was difficult (if not impossible) to move files from one application to another, because of the proprietary formats.

The idea was that once a customer (either an individual or a corporation) had created a lot of documents in the proprietary format, they would resist change to another vendor and stay with the original. It was a way to lock in customers to a vendor's product.

Some vendors allowed for their product to read the files of other products -- Word could read WordPerfect files, for example. Generally, such "interoperability" was limited to reading the files. Reading was easier than writing an "alien" format. (It is easier to pick out the important bits than create a file with all of the right internal tables and structures that will be acceptable to the other program.)

Today we have standard file formats, so a vendor cannot rely on proprietary formats to lock in customers.

But customers can still get locked in to a vendor's product.

Our tools are changing from stand-alone programs that store data in local files to on-line systems that allow for collaboration and store information "in the cloud". More than just sharing documents, today's collaboration tools let multiple people work on the same document at the same time. Microsoft's Office 365 suite allows this, as does Google's Docs and Sheets offerings. Other vendors offer this too.

But each collaboration environment is its own isolated garden. People using Google Docs can work with other people using Google Docs. People using Microsoft Office 365 can collaborate with other people using Microsoft 365. But one cannot mix products; one cannot cross tribes. A person using Google Docs cannot work (online, concurrently) with a person using Microsoft Office 365.

I expect that individuals and organizations will settle on a a single standard for their collaboration. Large corporations with an existing base of Microsoft documents will standardize on Microsoft's tools (Office 365). Small organizations with little or no existing documents (say, start-ups) will standardize on Google Docs because of the lower cost. Individuals will pick the tool that comes with their PC, when they buy a PC. (Several laptops now offer a free year of Office 365.)

Developers and contractors who work with multiple clients may find that they use both, picking the tool that matches their clients' needs for each project.

The "age of proprietary formats" lasted decades, roughly from 1980 to 2010. The "age of proprietary collaboration" may last just as long. Yet in the future I expect that the proprietary collaboration tools will develop interoperability and will not be used to lock in customers. Of course, vendors will find new ways to lock in customers.