One of my fave features happens to be the fact that not only does it save automatically: it keeps a running history of previous versions of the document. Want to see what a file looked like, say, an hour-and-a-half ago? Just step back there and marvel at how unpolished it looked compared to the present! Being a fan of time travel, it plases me greatly.

Also: the interface is really elegant. A few minor quirks aside, like the Find seeming to only work in IE (I mainly use Firefox), it's such a pleasant trip. I haven't yet customized the toolbars, but in a watermelon rind, it's just so straightforward and accessible. The Internet has all these funnily-named tools that I can't even figure out how to use, let alone spell.

On a guilt trip, I'm using Zoho Writer because I couldn't wait forever to find out how a similar app in the same field, Google's Writely, fares. My name's in the signup queue but I've been waiting for weeks now. From what I've heard, it has better realtime collaboration—wait, scratch that, according to this list of Collaborative real-time editors.

Assembling a puzzle is (was?) a popular family pastime. It's so much more fun to get it done together. I look at Internet collabs the same way. Would it not be tremendously boring if you had to wait 5 minutes between each update of a friend's build evolving in SL? Likewise, I think the same applies for more "conventional" online activities. Is email the new paper?

Direct networking like this is a lot better to me than even the scenario of two people seated at one computer, because one is likely to be the "over-the-shoulder" driver. Or, they'll alternate for command of the mouse+keyboard. Reminds me of those NES games that were "2-player alternate" instead of simultaneous. Lame.

I'm going to keep using Zoho Writer. A few more questions come to mind: it's free and so easy to sign up (you only have to provide your email and password!), so what's the catch? And actually, that's my only question. Historically, good things like this soon have advertising added to them (as Gmail does, which I don't mind). Or, they get trashed in some other way down the line. If I could talk to the makers of Zoho, and I haven't, what makes them passionate? Why did they create such a thing? And what are their visions for the future?