Another week, another Google product launches. Or almost launches in this case. Google hasn’t opened up Google Spreadsheets, an Ajax spreadsheet, to the general public yet but they have published a tour of what the product will look like once it actually does launch, and you can request an invitation to try it out.
Files can be imported in CSV or XLS formats, so excel documents and other spreadsheet files should work in Google Spreadsheets. Files can be saved in CSV, XLS and HTML formats.
The collaboration feature is excellent – multiple people can update a spreadsheet at the same time and chat with eachother while doing so.
Screenshots are below. While you are waiting for your invitation you may want to try out one of the other Ajax spreadsheet applications out there, such as ZohoSheet, iRows, or numsum. Zoho is putting together a very nice Ajax office suite, by the way. If you can’t wait for Google to bestow an invitation upon you, give it a try.
Where are the screenshots mentioned in the last paragraph?
They are already sending out invitations. I received mine this morning, but haven’t had much time to play with the app yet.
Cool. I can’t wait to get mine and try this out.
Yea its out. Got my invite a few hours ago. Its very nice and sleak. Will be very useful for keeping track of money etc
Already I got invitation in 5 hours. You can see snapshot of it in http://channy.t.../1361744398.gif
It feels like they’re going for the full set: Base, Calendar, Mail, Writely and now Spreadsheet. It’s only a matter of time before they do something with presentations and they’ve covered off all the basic functionality of Microsoft Office. Of course, it has to move beyond an announcement first. As I posted on my blog earlier, Microsoft seems to be aiming for Google’s territory with MSN and hosted applications so I’m looking forward to a clash of the giants in the next year.
Don’t you mean an AJAX spreadsheet editor…not a calendar?
I guess we can safely say that there will be no acquisition of a spreadsheet company by Google
You should also check out Tracker from Jotspot. They’ve been out for a while and they also have collaboration.
Also, as you’re waiting for your invitation Google Blogoscoped has a couple good moves to watch that are very revealing of the immaturity of the product.
I’m not really impressed yet; you can see my thoughts on my blog. I don’t think MS has much to worry about (from the product feature or usability side) for quite a while…
I’ve received an invitation after only a few hours from my submission… nice !
Marco
Anon you are right – there was a typo, fixed now, thanks
calendar…spreadsheet…whatever. I’m grouchy this morning after waiting up all night for this product. Or rather, tour of a product.
Michael, I’ll gladly give you one of my gmail accounts to which I’ve received an invite…just drop me an e-mail.
I don’t think this is going to challenge *anything* in business. For personal use, it’s awesome… but there’s not a company out there who would willingly put their confidential information on someone elses servers.
Dave, #4 – yes, FINALLY we have a way to keep track of personal expenses using a computer. Thanks Google.
Hi, Guys, this is David from EditGrid. You may take a look at our online spreadsheet: EditGrid (http://www.editgrid.com), too. It’s a pretty comprehensive. I think Google’s joining the web spreadsheet party would make the market bigger and healthier.
There will still be a long journey to go to have web-based spreadsheet apps replacing MS Excel. But I’m sure that day will come.
Try out http://editgrid.com . Much better than zoho or jotspot where you have add rows manually.
David Lee:
“As anticipated, Google will release its own spreadsheet. Our target is to do a web spreadsheet better than Google. Google’s size and innovative workforce allows it to do and excel in many things. While we at EditGrid put in all our passion and innovation here, the real competition is about to begin.”
-from EditGrid Blog (http://blog.editgrid.com/)
That doesn’t sound like a healthy attitude….
There’s something I’m not getting here. Online spreadsheets, word processors et al are really swish achievements to be running in web browsers, as a coder I bow down to the brilliance that put this together.
But once you’re past the novelty, what’s the point? Spreadsheets have been around about as long as computers, everyone’s got one, we can share them over networks, there’s great free ones as well as Excel.
It reminds me of the ‘old days’ when sites used to hit the news just because they existed…
EditGrid looks and feeld much better than Google Spreadsheets right now. But Google has the upper hand in so many respects. It will have more resources to get its product up to scratch, it had the fact many people already have Google Accounts, it has a well known name, and it has the possibility of integration with many other services.
I think GOffice is going to be brilliant.
whats wrong with that? I still appreciate what they have built.
caw: It is the idea you can get them anywhere. Edit them anywhere. And for free.
[quote]
caw
But once you’re past the novelty, what’s the point? Spreadsheets have been around about as long as computers, everyone’s got one, we can share them over networks, there’s great free ones as well as Excel.
[/quote]
You dont need to pay $300(ms-office) for excel, can access your docs from anywhere, multiple people can edit them concurrently, can have version history of changes, you dont need to upgrade any software or patch the software, you need to worry abt your pc crashing or loosing hard drive and all the data…….
Competition makes bigger market and brings new technology advancements. We at EditGrid are really glad that Google is joining. We are having a good time discussing how we can further improve EditGrid.
Google’s joining also drive cooperation. I’m just being ping by one of our potential competitor to discuss cooperation. =D
David: Fair Enough. Ironically, I found your service via Google’s sponsored links by searching for Google Spreadsheets. Looking forward to see what the future may bring.
I received my invite and wrote about it over at my blog (www.mipsscan.com).
First impressions are that they’ve done an amazing job with it.
For me the most impressive is its built-in formulas. Over 230+ formulas! With these formulas Google Spreadsheets can perfectly open .xls that contains many complex formulas!
The question is, how does Microsoft respond? This is obviously disruptive (in the true Christensen sense) to Excel:
1.It has fewer features but it’s also simpler.
2.It’s much cheaper and more easily accessed.
3.It has a completely different value network.
Microsoft must know this. I’d be very surprised if Gates/Ballmer were not intimately familiar with Prof. Christensen’s work (and actually understand it as well). According to Christensen’s model, the best course of action for MS would be to go head to head with Google on this and to do so within a separate company or independent unit. If MS chooses to ignore Google and take Office further upmarket, focusing on the most demanding and profitable users, then they are doomed. Or if they try to launch a competing product within the existing organizational and value network, they will also fail. So what will they do? Start cannibalizing Office themselves right now or wait for Google to do it. It’s going to be painful either way.
Errrrrrr
Just got my invite and tested it
tried to open a file from my comp and google said it was too big…
http://www.limi...eadsheets-eeek/
I am 99.99% sure that Google is currently building a PowerPoint Killer.
Powerpoint is definitely over. It is so much better to make web based presentation. OperaShow has been around for a while, but somehow they never market it?
See Jon Udell’s column for several products recommendation
Web-based alternatives to PowerPoint
http://www.info...trategic_1.html
try http://www.thumbstacks.com/ for slideshow. Need work though
Do you guys know if there’s any such tool like this
except that 3 or 4 ppl could edit a WORD DOC or
a website at once?
We write sales letters and business plans quite often
and I have 5 people who all do different peices then we
have to put it all together and wait for each other and it’s
a huge Pain in the Ass…
this same idea for WORD DOC would be a life saver!
Jason,
Google aquired writely, which will be just that
You might also look at ThinkFree (thinkfree.com), which has an app very close to Excel. They also have a Word-like and a PowerPoint-like app. And 1GB storage online. The advantage for me of these web-based apps is that the files reside on the web and can be easily edited from any location. Beats having to synch by whatever means. Then, since they are Office-compatible, you can bring the files local if you wish.
For a bunch of similar online spreadsheet services, check http://www.yell.be/?p=3
In my opinion, a spreadsheet, word processor, presentation tool, or :::insert productivity suite application here::: is basically useless to me if it can’t be available offline. Imagine needing access to a spreadsheet and finding out your internet connection is down? Or wanting to access a spreadsheet while you’re air born? Or you’re security conscious and don’t want to work on your budget over an open wifi connection?
Please… just as #19 (Caw) said – it’s all just novelty. Until there’s a way to be securely connected to the internet 100% of the time, this kind of online office suite won’t have a place in the business world or in many people’s personal lives either.
We’ve (AudienceCentral) been doing collaborative document drafting and editing for 7 years, big deal, right? Wrong. The big deal here is that anyone* can access it, anytime, anywhere; and it’s totally free. This is news worthy because a BIG company (no offense at all to the other online spreadsheet makers) has decided to put money into the consumer online document editing game. Microsoft and even Openoffice have either balked at this idea or ignored it, but Google is trying it. It will absolutely make the online document editing market richer, by introducing it to the world as a viable alternative.
Thanks, Google.
Building a spreadhseet in a web browser is impressive, but come on, let’s not get over excited. If this product was launched as a desktop app, no-one would take it seriously. It would be dismissed for the paucity of its features. The mere fact that it runs in a web browser though seems to be enough to get everyone high!
Desktop computers today are incredibly powerful – capable of so much, and yet we get excited by a web app that gives us functionality that’s been available in desktop apps for more than a decade. This is progress is it?
The spreadsheet is not complete with excel. However, it provides a must better intergation with Google other offerings.
For example, the froogle section of google is allowing small seller to upload excel file with their inventory list. Now, they can directly put in the google spreadsheet and directly pipe to the froogle database.
Furthremore, the spreadsheet will also provide a front end for google base – the google database.
Agreed. Do not immitate, innovate. Where’s any innovation here?
The issue is not that it is as good as excel, but it is good enough to support users who would not normally fork over $500 for MS Office.
Dont fall off your seat but there are people who dont use MS Office and have no need for it. AJAX hits the spot
I’m still waiting for the eBay killer. And the pay service. And the integration between the eBay killer and the web development app. And the browser. And the Google OS.
Don’t get me wrong, my sarcasm shouldn’t be perceived as me stating their method of “spidering” out into various markets is wrong. In fact, it’s probably a good method, because they will eventually hit something that “clicks”… However, I’m just afraid that their choice of revenue (advertising) isn’t the best, and could be disrupted by another player.
Yet another Google Solution looking for a problem.
@43.
What differentiates Googles revenue model from traditional print media and TV?
The great advantage is that you can collaborate online in real time with your colleagues and simultaneously chat with them while working on the spreadsheet as a team.
i also hope they integrate this with other google services such as google calendar (and the upcoming re-launch of writely). it could also integrate well with adwords+google calendar just upload a spreadsheet with your list of keywords, max bids etc and you’re done…
i guess if they release the API for this it’ll be very cool.
“Powerpoint is definitely over. It is so much better to make web based presentation. OperaShow has been around for a while, but somehow they never market it?”
Why would that be the case? Writely and Editgrid are great — i have been using them for a while and they fill my needs very well, but for powerpoint, where i do many relatively complex functions, the web based powerpoints are far from adequate.
What Powerpoint needs now is an built in web-delivery model – one that allows flash-like viewing over the web, or better yet, conversion to a html-based and cross browser document. With that, it would be hard for a web app to displace it.
As for collaboration… lets see what MS build in the next generation!
I accidentally found out that you can get a Google Spreadsheets account without being invited by Google.
I got my invitation this morning at the Gmail account I use for my business, and I imported a spreadsheet. I then used the “Share this spreadsheet” function to send an invitation link to my “personal” Gmail account (so I could update that spreadsheet no matter which Gmail account I was already signed into).
Later, when I switched to my personal Gmail account, I opened the email I sent from my business account, and clicked the spreadsheet link. Then I created a new spreadsheet, and saved it. Now I have a separate Google Spreadsheets account assigned to my personal Gmail account, too.
Just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke, I sent a “Share this spreadsheet” invitation to a friend’s Gmail account. He opened it, created a new spreadsheet, saved it, and now he, too, has his own Google Spreadsheets account….
Therefore, anyone who has a Google Spreadsheets account can “unofficially” invite anyone else to get their own Google Spreadsheets account. Just create a new, blank spreadsheet, send a “Share” invitation, and after the people to whom you’ve sent the “share” link have created their new accounts, delete the shared spreadsheet (or remove shared access to it).
1. Collaboration, online storage and publishing could be addons to Excel/Word/PowerPoint integrated with Office Live or even a third-party service provider.
2. Open Office is also free and almost as powerful as Microsoft Office is. It can also have similar addons and service providers.
3. People on the go have notebooks… or at least a subscription to GoToMyPC or an alternative.
I dont think this is a mistake from google, its the same with writley.
Cant spread very fast anyway, not in a pace they cant keep up with. However, releasing to everyone would bring on a very high load.
If I were Steve Balmer I wouldn’t be very happy right now, within about two months we have seen word (google bought writley), outlook (google calendar, and the not so new gmail), excel (google spreadsheet). Sure, everyone but gmail got some work ahead before larger numbers of users will jump on, but if they keep the same development speed they usualy have I’d say perhaps half a year or something and we might have some googleoffice thing. This would’nd be as full-featured as office, but could still take alot of users away from MS Office (which is microsofts cash-cow). I wouldn’t be happy if I were microsoft now..