Google Docs was supposed to be the future of writing, but it led us to a dead end. Here is why it is fundamentally broken, and how we’re fixing it at @ButterDocsHQ

Sol LeWitt as a service

😡

If you’re using Google Docs to collaborate on your shopping list — sure, that works. But if your words matter, it might pay to not go with “free”.

Google Docs’ greatest strength is also its biggest weakness: ​ Everything happens in one document. This sounds ideal until you realize having only one document means: – Once published, you can’t work in private (anyone can pop in at anytime). – You can’t ask for edits without worrying about losing work (if someone forgets to track edits, you need to dig through a terrible version history UI to find the original). – You can't take the draft in a different direction (if you realize you need to make significant changes, but don't want to lose the original work, you need to create a new document). ​ The premise is fundamentally broken. ​ Not to mention, some people (like lawyers) can't even use Docs because of these privacy issues. They're stuck in Word. ​ To solve all these issues, we have to fundamentally rethink what a document could be: – We shouldn’t think of it as a piece of text. – We should think of it as a process. A collaboration. A series of moving parts that come together to form a result. ​ This process involves multiple drafts, to experiment, to write in private, to work in parallel, that can easily be merged into the final version. ​ git’s workflow enabled this kind of collaboration for engineers, and changed the way programmers work forever. It’s time this workflow was made available for writers. ​ At Butterdocs, we're building a complete writing environment so you can: – Be more productive – Collaborate seamlessly – Enjoy privacy – Keep all your notes, ideas, research, and playbooks in one place – And so much more ​ Welcome to the future.