{"id":1154,"date":"2006-06-06T16:05:00","date_gmt":"2006-06-06T22:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/?p=1154"},"modified":"2006-06-06T16:05:00","modified_gmt":"2006-06-06T22:05:00","slug":"google-launches-google-spreadsheets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/google-launches-google-spreadsheets\/","title":{"rendered":"Google launches Google Spreadsheets"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a sign that may indicate Google<\/A> is getting closer to getting a bigger piece of software giant Microsoft\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/A> pie, Google launched a limited test of Google Spreadsheets Tuesday morning.
\nAccording to Google, Google Spreadsheets will allow users to create free, basic spreadsheets that can be shared or updated by multiple contributors with ease.
\nSpreadsheets will be securely stored on the web so they can be accessed from any computer with web access.
\nThe software does not need to be installed on any local computers, saving local hard drive space and reducing the risk of losing information in the event of a hard drive crash.
\nOf course without locally installed computers, using the software is dependent upon an Internet connection.
\nKeeping files on a secure server lets you easily share, collaborate, view and edit files at the same time as your partners. Users can also chat while editing and viewing the same spreadsheet.
\nAnd for users of other software programs, files can be easily imported from .CSV and .XLS formats and you can save your files back to your local hard drive as .CSV, .XLS or HTML formats.
\nThe software is available to a limited number of users at http:\/\/labs.google.com<\/A>. Invitations will be sent out to users on the waiting list on a first-come, first-serve basis.
\nRobert Scoble, Microsoft technology evangelist and blogger thinks the new software will be good for both companies.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153This is a good thing in my book,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Scoble wrote on his personal blog<\/A> Tuesday morning. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It’s a good thing because of my philosophy. I want better software. Competition brings better software. It gets product managers to worry about customers. It causes discussions of features that were long-ago decided on.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nScoble said Google Spreadsheets is simply two different companies\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 ideas on how computers should be used.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You’re watching two massively different ideas about how computers should be used battling it out right on the world’s economic stage,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Scoble said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153On one hand you have the old standard (Microsoft) Office that says \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcload locally and use local resources.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 On the other hand you have the new, fresh and clean, Google Office that says \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcload on the server and use a thin client, er browser.\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nScoble said he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s still betting on the Microsoft Office spreadsheet to win out.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I know which one I’m betting on,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Scoble said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why? Perspective. Even with my always-on-$80-a-month Verizon card getting to Network resources is still far slower than pulling them off of the hard drive. And, that’ll remain true for a long time. Also, the Web browser simply doesn’t have the API support to do really rich stuff.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d
\nI agree with a lot of that. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think Google releasing an online spreadsheet is going to stop me or other Microsoft fans from using Excel, but having another option for accessing and sharing my files will be a huge benefit.
\nMy parents don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have Excel software on their computer, but now I can share any information I put on a spreadsheet with them.
\nI simply enter their e-mail address into the software and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re e-mailed a link to view, edit and change the data.
\nLet\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say my friends and I put together a spreadsheet keeping track of our season totals for softball.
\nNow we can all view it, make notes and change our stats if we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not happy with them.
\nWait \u00e2\u20ac\u201c maybe this isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t such a good idea, at least not for them.
\nBeing able to share a document on a common server with anyone around the world will solve issues of working on a previous versions or making changes that don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get shared with everyone else.
\nBeing able to chat with co-workers or friends while you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re both looking at the same document, across the office or around the world, will only improve the dissemination of information and data.
\nBut I guess I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll have to wait for that invitation in my inbox to see just how excited I really am about Google\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new announcement.
\nNo word yet as to if the software will contain targeted ads, based on your spreadsheet data and use.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a sign that may indicate Google is getting closer to getting a bigger piece of software giant Microsoft\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pie, Google launched a limited test of Google Spreadsheets Tuesday morning. According to Google, Google Spreadsheets will allow users to create free, basic spreadsheets that can be shared or updated by multiple contributors with ease. Spreadsheets … Continue reading Google launches Google Spreadsheets<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pEnSo-iC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1154\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/casadeblundell.com\/jonathan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}