Now that we have online office suites like Google Docs, Zoho, and even Adobe’s Acrobat.com, you may not have much desire to go and check out yet another would-be Microsoft Office killer. However, Shutterborg, a new online word processor does one thing really well which makes it a unique tool in this space: it lets you open any URL on the internet and edit it like an Office document.
When you first visit Shutterborg, available online at http://shutterb.org, you’re presented with three options: New Document, Open from Disk (coming soon), and Open from Web. The first option – starting a new document – will take you right into Shutterborg, where you can then begin to type.
The word processor itself is rather rudimentary. There are some basic options for formatting your text, aligning it, highlighting it, etc. You can also choose to insert photos and links from the “Insert” menu or create bulleted and numbered lists. Beyond that, the tool doesn’t do much in terms of word processing. Also, at the moment, the files you create can only be saved in .HTML format. Other formats like .TXT, .ODT, and .DOC will arrive in later, says the company.
If basic word processing was all that Shutterborg did, it probably wouldn’t be worth a mention just yet. However, the “Open from Web” option that is presented to you upon launch is a pretty clever invention. Here, you can enter in any URL on the internet to open an exact replica of that web page, with the CSS and images intact. You can then edit it as you desire which could obviously lead to some humorous creations.
That feature alone makes Shutterborg worth a look simply because it’s so easy to use. Although the resulting HTML file won’t look like much if opened outside of the Shutterborg processor, it’s easy enough to grab a screenshot of your mocked up creation while you have Shutterborg open. The potential for creating hilarious edits to well-known sites will certainly appeal to the creative types out there. We can’t wait to see what they come up with.
Shutterborg is a creation of developIT, a small business in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada whose focus is on developing web sites and Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) for businesses of all sizes.
