Google official motto is "Do no evil". The unofficial one might as well be "We are the Borg. We will assimilate you. Resistance is futile!" I am just joking of course. But at least that is often the impression when I read the Google blog telling me about one additional takeover of a small web 2.0 company, and then another and then another.
But I don't want to whine about that - this time. The results of Google's Borg-like attitude are often very impressive. Google Spreadsheets is one example. Google bought the small company 2Web Technologies last year, when they had a nice Java script based spreadsheet in development. Now they are starting to roll out the finished application by invitation only of course ...) I got an invitation last Friday (thank you Thomas) and I can not say more than: truely impressive.
It is true: Google Spreadsheets includes less than 20% of the functionality of Microsoft Excel maybe. But these 20% are the 20% that 90% of current Excel users might use 90% of the time. And ... Google Spreadsheets shows the state of the art in web 2.0 applications. It also shows how a typical desktop application can be enriched with web based collaboration functions easily. Together with Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar, the upcoming new version of Writely etc. the building blocks of Google Office are falling into place.
As an added goody, Google Spreadsheet (like dabbledb) is a wonderful example to show a client, when you want to prove how smooth a web 2.0 application can be. But that is obviously not its purpose. Its purpose is to offer a spreadsheet application with collaborative functions added.
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Google Spreadsheets is a fully functional spreadsheet application that runs completely in your browser. I have tested it in Firefox mostly. But experiments in IE6 went fine, too. When you start it up, you get a normal spreadsheet grid. Like in Excel, cells can contain constant texts, numbers, dates, times or formulas. Over 200 build in functions are supported in the formulas. Spreadsheets can easily be imported to and from a local Excel application or to other applications that understand the .xls file format.
Most of the standard operations can be done the way you would do them in Excel. The Tab key works like it should be. Cursor keys and the mouse work like you expect them to. You can select regions in the grid with the mouse, the keyboard, by shift clicking and so on. I would have never expected an Ajax application so similar to "the real thing".
And the verdict?
Google Spreadsheets is no substitute for Excel of course. There are not many options available to format the table. There are no diagrams, no pivot tables or lists. Printing is a huge problem - like with most web 2.0 apps. It is not perfect - far from "perfect". For those interested in the details: a full review can be found on the American PC World. More pictures are on TechCrunch, a few videos can be found on ZDNet and a good assessment of the strategic importance can be found at Nicholas Carr's weblog.
Opinions on Google's newest hit are very different, of course. Many are bored, because it can't compete head-to-head with Excel ("why do I need a spreadsheet that does not do charts?"). But, IMHO, those critics are missing the mark. Google Spreadsheet is not meant to compete with Excel. Spreadsheets is a convenient, cheap offer for all those who do not need Excels full power but which might want to collaborate with other users on a spreadsheet sometimes. Spreadsheet is simple. And people like simple things. Simplify!
Spreadsheets fits beautifully into Google' strategy
It does not even post a problem for Google, when most of these users would still use Excel sometime. Because Google does not want to "compete with Microsoft" or "kill Microsoft". Google has to compete with Microsoft a bit because its overall strategy calls for embracing the customer in all his needs and daily jobs.
Google's revenues come from its context sensitive ads. They are based on watching what the customer reads on his screen and placing ads beside that might be interesting in the context. Every minute the customer spends in a non-Google app is lost for Google's revenues. And every minute that he additionally spends in a Google app is good for Google. Spreadsheets will be a very good reason for many a user to spend some additional minutes inside a Google app in the following months and years. Together they will spend billions of additional minutes there - and click on billions of adsense ads.
That is a business model which Microsoft still has not understood completely. And I am not sure at all if they will understand - and embrace - it fast enough. As I don't want to quote the usual suspects, here are two german voices on this topic: My fellow blogger from Switzerland Andreas Göldi writes:
Schon einmal, beim Aufkommen des Internet, stand Microsoft vor einer ähnlichen Bedrohung -- und wir wissen alle, wie es später Netscape ergangen ist.
Once before, with the rise of the Internet, Microsoft faced a similar threat -- and we all know how Netscape [early king of the internet] faired later.
Fellow german blogger Robert Basic touts in the same horn:
Microsoft hat als Monopolist eine wesentlich besser Angriffs- und Verteidungsposition. Solange die Gewinne sprudeln, werden die einen langen und ausdauernden Fight führen können.
As holder of a profitable monopoly Microsoft has a better attack and defence position. As long as the revenues flow, they will be able to endure a long fight [with Google].
Yes, Microsoft has won a lot of wars in the past, even if it lost the first battles. I am not sure if it can win forever - or this time. Because the web 2.0 is a threat which attacks Microsoft at the core of its very succesful business model (of the past). Joel Spolsky wrote about it two years ago. It is still a very readable article: How Microsoft Lost the API War.
But no matter, who "wins". I am already happy to have Google Spreadsheets and I am sure I will find many applications for it in the comings months - especially with shared spreadsheets, "intelligent lists" checked by small groups etc.
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