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| UPDATED: 2006-06-06 |
 Google Figures Out A Spreadsheet 
By: David Utter 2006-06-06 Another component of the fabled Google Office Suite becomes available for a controlled beta test at around noon Eastern Time today.  Followers of Google (GOOG) will be rejoicing today as the company brings out a new service for users to try. ZDNet's Google blogger Garett Rogers posted a link to Google Spreadsheet, which shows how the product provides some basic functionality for creating and editing spreadsheets from a web browser.
Much has been made of the prospect of Google focusing some of its efforts at unseating Microsoft (MSFT) from its dominant place atop the world of productivity suites. Google picked up an online word processor called Writely by acquiring its company, and it functions in a manner similar to Microsoft Word. And Google Base offers a database-like ability to store all kinds of information. Google does not have a front end for Base that operates like Microsoft Access, though. In Microsoft Office, Excel stands as the most important program out of the whole suite. Smaller companies use it as a de facto database, while larger ones utilize macros and pivot tables in Excel to crunch numbers and perform a whole slew of tasks and calculations. Excel also serves as a gateway to other Microsoft products. Many firms of all sizes use Excel as a simple database, even when Access would make more sense for certain applications. As a business grows, Excel tends to lead its users to Access, and from their the profitable SQL Server line awaits. Google Spreadsheet appears to offer some user-friendly ways of formatting and sorting information within the program. Screenshots of the service show how it can be used to create lists and share them with other people. It's important to note what Spreadsheet does not do. Macros are at the top of the list. The help file for the product describes what happens when converting an Excel file with macros for use in Google Spreadsheet: Can viruses get in my Google Spreadsheets documents from Excel?
No, viruses get into Excel via macros, which we discard when a document is converted to Google Spreadsheets. Without macros, Google Spreadsheet doesn't have a chance at supplanting Excel from the desktops of Excel's power users. Couple that with privacy concerns about storing sensitive information with a third party like Google, and the product may do something for Microsoft that could shock Google's legions of Microsoft-hating fans. It could interest people in picking up Office so they can use a spreadsheet with more features while keeping control of their data locally. --- Tags: Google, Spreadsheet Add to  Del.icio.us |  Digg |  Yahoo! My Web |  Furl
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View All Articles by David Utter About the Author: David Utter is a staff writer for InternetFinancialNews and WebProNews covering technology and business. |
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