I'm always amazed at how words with distinct meanings can develop a host of different connotations. One of those words is collaboration.
The dictionary defines the term as working together, especially in an intellectual pursuit. But in the Internet world, the word has come to predominantly mean the sharing of documents, as in access to a repository.
At SharedBook, we'd like to return the word to its origin, especially in describing our SharedDoc product, a truly collaborative application that allows communities large and small to provide feedback on a document up to 900 pages long.
One of the valuable attributes of SharedDoc (www.shareddoc.com) is that the host maintains control of the document so the content cannot be changed. In addition, comments are added as footnotes within the document so it can be fluidly read by all.
We're spending a lot of time adding features to SharedDoc, as we believe that the distributed workforce requires new tools for working closely together; i.e. collaborating.
Check out www.SharedDoc.com and let us know what features you'd like to see us add.
