Why so SaaSy?

SaaS stands for "Software as a Service", which is a popular tech buzzword being thrown around lately. It refers to the selling of software to users for specific services. This idea has gained recent popularity in spite of the fact that it has been around for a longtime already. For example, do you ever recall going to the store to buy a software CD and then installing it onto your computer when you got home? If users have already been buying software for a longtime, what is so special about SaaS?

The latest revisions to this sale model has been to provide software services to people via the Internet. This means less direct downloading onto your personal computer. For example, instead of buying Excel or Word, you can now use both Google Docs and Sheets by just having a Google Account. This is a recent trend in computing that has changed the way software is created and sold, allowing it to become more compatible and accessible.