On Tuesday, we mentioned the striking resemblance between Backboard and Apple’s new iWork.com. Soliciting opinions, we sent it out to a bunch of members of the Mac community for their input and feedback. The responses were interesting and varied, but this particular one, from The Apple Blog editor Josh Pigford, especially caught my eye:

Thanks for the link. Sure iWork.com “feels” like Backboard… but Backboard doesn’t integrate with iWork docs… which is precisely what iWork.com is for. It’s not for every document-using person on earth.

In your post you said:

“You don’t have to switch to Pages, Numbers, and Keynote in order to use Backboard to get feedback on your documents. Use Word, or InDesign, or OpenOffice.org! It all just works.”

That’s precisely why I want iWork.com…because I use Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.

Once Backboard has iWork integration, let’s talk.

Never to be one to back down from a challenge, we spent a couple hours with Mike Solomon’s excellent SIMBL and came up with something. Guess what, Josh! Backboard now has iWork integration.

How it works

Just install this software package and relaunch your iWork apps. In the toolbar, you’ll now have a new button right next to the iWork.com button:

Simply click it and you’re on your way. It’s also available from the Share menu, in case you want to assign a keyboard shortcut:

Try it out!

Download Backboard Plug-in for iWork ‘09 (163 KB, requires iWork ‘09 to be installed)

Always listening to feedback

Remember, Backboard is constantly changing and evolving in response to your requests; without the people who use it, Backboard wouldn’t be where it is today. In this case, we had a chance to implement something in response to one person’s feedback, and we’re always looking for more ideas.

Let us know what you think, and Happy Backboarding!