I remember being excited about these architectures back in the day. It was quite exciting to think about the ability to pick and choose what you wanted to use, so that I could use a real dictionary with definitions in my word processor, or use a real graphics program to create the artwork. The demos that really got me giddy were the ones that showed the level of integration. Imagine the user interface of CorelDRAW blending into the user interface of Word as though they were the same program. It was an unbelievable level of integration.

It would be easy to say that it never happened, because of monoliths like Office, but I think it did happen. After all, OpenDoc's competitor (OLE) is still at the core of Office. A similar model called SOM was also available in OS/2. The thing is, I don't think that many consumers were interested in extending their applications. And I think there are three good reasons for that:

• It is easier to buy a monolithic package like Microsoft Office because it simplifies the decision process. Imagine that you need three components, and each component is available from three vendors. You have 27 potential combinations to choose from. If you buy a suite, you have just three to choose from.
  
• It is cheaper to buy a monolithic package. Or at least it looks cheaper. Office may be expensive, but you get a shitload of stuff with it. If you go out to buy all of that stuff individually, it would almost certainly be more expensive. Of course, Microsoft doesn't mind selling more for less because it ensures that everyone is buying everything from them. Heck, it ensures that everyone is buying everything period. (I know that I wouldn't buy a database application, I probably wouldn't buy a presentations program, and I only may buy a spreadsheet -- if I only needed a word processor.)
  
• Compatability is horrendous between vendors. Think about it. Why does everyone use Word? In some cases it's because it's all they know, but a lot of informed buyers stick to Word because it works with everyone else's documents. The same goes for every other Office component.

At the end of the day, I don't think that OpenDoc would have been successful in any circumstances. It would not be successful because you didn't need an industry-wide component level software management system. You only need that sort of thing within the context of a particular application suite.