Why did we go from owning the software we run and being able to just modify things as we see fit to "You have to give Google a lot of money so you can have your own font in your own presentation"?
I'm going to go the unpopular route and ask, how mission-critical are fonts, really? Protected fonts such as these can't be mission-critical, legally, right?
Never felt myself lacking for fonts in Docs, myself. Quite the opposite, Google Fonts has way more than I'd ever have preinstalled and is now my primary avenue for typeface discovery.
You can still pay Microsoft money to get a desktop copy of Powerpoint, which will use your system fonts. Using google docs is entirely self-inflicted
Granted, you now need to pay Microsoft a monthly fee for Powerpoint instead of a one-time-fee. But that is in large part because too many people preferred Google Docs, so Microsoft tried to become more like them
You can still pay Microsoft a one-time-fee instead of a yearly one. You can even go to a physical store and get a physical box with Office (granted, it doesn't contain anything inside it anymore )
No, you need to be at least a medium-sized corporation basically.
Then because your contract with Google is large enough to matter, they'll add your custom corporate branded fonts to your font dropdowns.
Basically the level where you've progressed from user to customer.
Why did we go from owning the software we run and being able to just modify things as we see fit to "You have to give Google a lot of money so you can have your own font in your own presentation"?
Where did things go this wrong?
I'm going to go the unpopular route and ask, how mission-critical are fonts, really? Protected fonts such as these can't be mission-critical, legally, right?
Never felt myself lacking for fonts in Docs, myself. Quite the opposite, Google Fonts has way more than I'd ever have preinstalled and is now my primary avenue for typeface discovery.
Depends on what you do.
Are you building a slide deck on your systems architecture? Probably doesn't matter.
Are you building a marketing deck on your new corporate identity? Probably matters a lot.
Either way, the tool I'm using shouldn't be the one deciding what matters and what doesn't. Just let me use my font as I please!
I could see some kafkaesque organization writing-up or firing someone for using the wrong font on a PowerPoint presentation.
Such companies should be mocked and shamed, not held up as examples to follow.
It doesn't matter on the corporate identity either.
It may not matter to you, but in this circumstance, your opinion doesn’t matter.
It only matters to the designers. The users don't care which sans-serif font the designers picked, they all look the same.
It’s subtle, but attention to detail all around will add up to something that looks polished. I appreciate that as a user, at least
Fine, I’ll take the bait. If this is true, then why isn’t everything in the world Arial/Helvetica?
Because people are stupid enough to worry about many things which don't matter. This includes, but is not limited to, font choices.
That's the most retarded take I've seen in a while.
The designers are generally the ones doing and watching presentations on design. They are also the users of the office suite in this case.
You can still pay Microsoft money to get a desktop copy of Powerpoint, which will use your system fonts. Using google docs is entirely self-inflicted
Granted, you now need to pay Microsoft a monthly fee for Powerpoint instead of a one-time-fee. But that is in large part because too many people preferred Google Docs, so Microsoft tried to become more like them
You can still pay Microsoft a one-time-fee instead of a yearly one. You can even go to a physical store and get a physical box with Office (granted, it doesn't contain anything inside it anymore )
When we stopped paying for things. Seriously. If you pay for software, you can modify it. If you pay Google, they’ll modify it for you.
Yes, the EULA may prohibit modifications of local installations, but you’re not physically restricted from doing so - only contractually.
If you want to drink your own wine in a restaurant, you have to pay for that, too.
This isn’t much different; there still are plenty of non-Google options for creating presentations to choose from that do allow using your own font.
If SaaS is a restaurant, what's software I purchase? A personal robot chef with an infinite ingredient supply, no charge for using my own wine?
I think that supports the "Where did things go this wrong?" sentiment.