The creation of OpenOffice was instrumental in the creation of more open and interchangeable XML-based office formats. This should be a source of celebration, but now the goal of OpenOffice has largely been achieved, the goal shifts.
With the advent of apps, the focus is on what can be uniquely achieved in one app vs another. And unique apps demand unique file formats, think .pages, .garageband, .idraw and so on. This use of unique files is something Apple encourages and supports in its operating systems.
This doesn't mean that every app is an island, but instead that apps have unique file types in order to achieve their goals in the most efficient way possible, but then often have interchange formats for use on the desktop and so on.
Depending on the app and its role these interchange formats might be: SVG, PDF, .docx, RTF, etc.
For those involved in data preservation, this might sound like a bad thing, since unconverted files from apps that disappear into the ether might well be impossible to retrieve from the dark vaults of logic imposed by their filetype.
For the here and now, however, these things make perfect sense.
With the advent of apps, the focus is on what can be uniquely achieved in one app vs another. And unique apps demand unique file formats, think .pages, .garageband, .idraw and so on. This use of unique files is something Apple encourages and supports in its operating systems.
This doesn't mean that every app is an island, but instead that apps have unique file types in order to achieve their goals in the most efficient way possible, but then often have interchange formats for use on the desktop and so on.
Depending on the app and its role these interchange formats might be: SVG, PDF, .docx, RTF, etc.
For those involved in data preservation, this might sound like a bad thing, since unconverted files from apps that disappear into the ether might well be impossible to retrieve from the dark vaults of logic imposed by their filetype.
For the here and now, however, these things make perfect sense.
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