Google Spreadsheets: After trying the beta
In my earlier post I argued why Google Spreadsheets is not a threat to Excel in any way or form. Now that I had chance to try it out myself, I’m more convinced than ever.
It’s actually barely usable for any serious kind of work (which is where most of the cash in Excel cash cow comes from):
- No autofill - I unsuccessfully tried to drag a range (1, 2, 3 for example) down to fill out, say, 20-30 consecutive numbers. No luck. Ctrl-D/Ctrl-R shortcuts for copying right/down do work though.
- No charts - Much less important than other things I’ve mentioned, but still a significant omission (Excel charts are not perfect by any measure though)
- No offline access - One of great points mentioned by Ian Landsman
In my humble opinion, this is a case of just too much blogosphere hype with little real substance.
Update: iRows seems to be more useful, though less sleek than Google Spreadsheets: autofill, charts are included. And it supports collaborative editing to boot.
Add comment June 8th, 2006
