I love this chart from Google on their Google Docs strategy. Whether or not a true representation of their strategy, it is an appealing illustration of moving a product toward a set of product characteristics that exploits emerging customer needs, and does so in an area where the incumbent will struggle to follow given the inertia of a massive (and profitable) existing customer base. (Popular books on these strategies include 'Innovators Dilemma' and 'Blue Ocean Strategy', but these are not new ideas.)

Today's improvements include GoogleWave-like instant collaboration, and radically improved formatting. For more details, see http://googledocs.blogspot.com/2010/04/new-google-docs.html.

Open questions:

• Is this disruption in action?
• Do these changes make Google Docs more viable for the small business? (I think yes)
• Is live collaboration of this type a sufficiently large need?

The counter view

• Is this just a matter of Google Docs putting a pretty picture on a very slow catch up with Microsoft functionality?

Interesting times.