WHAT IS GOOGLE DOCS?
Google docs is a graphical text editor made by google, it integrates with google drive and supports live collaborations as well as cloud storage as the default. It is very similar to Microsoft word and has almost all of the same features, allowing them both to support the same file types.
PARTICIPANTS / USERS
Google docs is a drop in replacement for Microsoft Word, which is one of the most used office programs in existence, this means the user base is massive and very diverse. Some of the people who may use google docs include: Students, Teachers, Office workers, Writers and anyone who wants to write something. Although many people has a very wide pool of users many still use Microsoft word, particularly older people who know it and are used to it, this means that most of the users of google docs are younger people.
COASTPD TABLE
Collecting
The primary piece of data that google docs collects is the text inputs from the users keyboard, but its not the only one. It also collects other information such as text formatting, username, the time and what document they are editing.
Organising
Google docs organises data on a few different levels. It organises the direct data it has collected from its users by applying the changes the user has made to the document and logging it in the version history. It also organises the documents documents and users on its servers which allows you to sign in and start editing almost instantly.
Analysing
Google docs analyses the data it has in a few ways, it analyses the edits from all the users to decide what the current document looks like, it reports document statistics such as word count and provides detailed edit history. Google also analyses the statistics it gets from google docs to inform choices about what to do in the futre.
Storing/Retrieving
Google docs has to store all the information related to all of your documents in their current and past states and retrieve the information on demand to let your open and edit any document. Google docs uses the google drive platform to store all of its documents and uses uses gmail to authenticate users. As well as storing all of your documents in the cloud when editing a document a local copy is also stored so that if you temporarily lost connection to the internet you could continue editing the document.
Processing
Google docs processes all the document content to provide features such as intelligent auto-complete and spell checking, it does this by analysing the text with complex algorithms and comparing it to a database of example text and it predicts what the user meant to type with this.
Transmitting
Google docs is built on the low latency transmitting of data, it transmits your changes to the document to the server and the server transmits the new document back to you. There is also transmission involved in the authentication and login process to make sure you can access the document.
Displaying
Google docs displays the most recent document it has fetched from the cloud on your screen with all its formatting and styling, it also displays a menu top bar with various UI elements and it also highlights the most recent changes made by other editors.
SOCIAL/ETHICAL ISSUES
Google docs does a fairly good job at addressing many of the social and ethical issues that could arise from a product such as it, but it does still have some issues.
The worst issues with google docs are around privacy and hacking, by the nature of storing your documents in the cloud, google and possibly other users have access to all of them, but also it is significantly easier for hackers to gain unwanted access to your documents. Another issue that has arisen from the live collaboration is users making unwanted changes or deleting sections of documents as a form of vandalism. This has been addressed by making it possible to share documents in view only mode with viewers only being able to view and make comments on the document.Â
Most issues around inclusivity and ergonomics are addressed well, as you would expect from a company such as google however it is not perfect, for example the support for languages other than english in google docs is limited.
TECHNOLOGIES / DATA
Google docs is hosted on the google drive platform, which is a cloud storage platform also made by google. Google drive utilizes google servers which are located in most major regions of the world, and google drive automatically uses the closest server to the user and can share its data between all of the servers to allow quick access to anyone in the world.
Google docs also allows real-time collaboration with anyone in the world, to do this every keypress is sent to the google servers and they decide how to change to document. it does this with a complicated version management and edit history system to make sure everyone's changes get registered and saved.