This post begs the question - can Word be replaced with HTML/CSS? What if there were a WYSIWYG HTML/CSS editor? HTML would provide the intechangable document format; the ubiquity of browsers means everyone already has a document viewer; it would allow those with a desire for greater control to edit text directly in a text editor, separate from the presentation layer; and documents could be formatted for different presentation on screen and when printed; and while we're at it, we could replace powerpoint too.
I'm a LaTeX addict and not an HTML guru, so I'm sure there's a reason this solution doesnt work, but it seems intriguing.
I was merely commenting on the usability of "style sheets" in Word, not arguing that one thing should replace another. For instance, I can easily imagine that the run-of-the-mill "markup" WYSIWYG workflow in Word is an excellent fit for writing a short formal letter.
Although, a few years ago, a couple of friends of mine were working on their masters theses in non-computer related fields (literature and biology), they complained about Word and its tendency to get somewhat "wonky" when working with very large documents (I am glad I have never had to experience such a task). I talked to them about the basic ideas behind the LaTeX workflow, that writing the text and doing layout/styling are straight from the start intended to be two separate concepts--you're either working on one or the other. And how the text content is also just that: a plain text file with a few document structure-related codes in it. A plain text file doesn't lose whole sections or mangles up chapters for no apparent reason.
I was surprised to hear their reaction, they were very intrigued and would have been readily prepared to learn the basics of LaTeX, if it meant getting that peace-of-mind: that writing a large chunk of text means that it is there, without a program doing behind-the-scenes modifications on it if you decide to move parts around, or so. I say "would have been" because they were already quite far in their theses so it would've made little sense to make the switch still.
Because that's really the point, isn't it? That's what annoys me about Word (and a lot of other word processing software btw), it just won't keep its fingers off my document, and all sorts of things happen under-the-hood. With LaTeX (and similar solutions, perhaps Markdown) the whole workflow is different: first you write the content, with some minimal markup and structuring codes, and that's a text file. It's yours and nobody, no software is going to touch it. It's source code. And only then you apply a program to it, in order to compile it to a display format. But that program will not touch your source.
I really like it that way. I understand it's not for everyone on the consumer market, but it's interesting to consider how different that paradigm is.
I don't think replacing Word documents with HTML/CSS is viable, since they specify content for two different formats. HTML is suited to flowing content like a river, whereas Word is for documents meant to fit on a printed page, like on a stone tablet.
You'd have to create quite complicated style templates to get HTML formatted to fit onto pages.
I'm a LaTeX addict and not an HTML guru, so I'm sure there's a reason this solution doesnt work, but it seems intriguing.