Google Spreadsheets beta launched today, and like Google Page Creator, it's a testament to how powerful a platform that javascript (actually AJAX) and the browser have become on top of today's very fast hardware.

In its current state, Google Spreadsheets is in no danger of chasing Excel from the market, but, at first glance, it certainly has the features I most often need (with the possible exception of graphing and chart-making). eWeek calls it 'The Soccer Mom's Excel.' Often I use Excel just to manage lists or format data, and Google's product does most of this just fine. I can imagine firing it up for simple chores at home, and even at work, especially in cases where data security et al. are not a factor.

Once Writely, Google's word processor, is in place, I can also imagine doing most of what I need to do - browse, email, keep a calendar and author basic business and personal documents, with nothing more than an inexpensive PC equipped with Firefox and a decent broadband connection. In fact, I am tempted to make a point of only using Google apps on the secondary desktop CPU at gulker.com, a Mac Mini, just to see how well I can manage (the main CPU, a dual-G5 Mac, is fully loaded with MS Office and other shrinkwrap software).

The only issue that is a little sticky is the trust question: do I really believe that my data will be safe on Google? The 2 issues in my mind are 1. our Federal Government, whose every department seems daily ever less inclined to obey the law and respect the privacy of its citizens, and 2. plain old-fashioned data loss in the event of a bad crash or other mishap in some giant Google data center. Once people are happy with the notion of Google keeping their data from cradle to grave, I think we have a whole new ballgame. Maybe Google stock isn't grossly overvalued...
Comments 7:55:07 PM    

Chris Gulker's view from Silicon Valley - in words and pictures