Google Spreadsheets
I signed up for Google Spreadsheets recently. This could be a very powerful tool for collaborating with a bunch of people. For instance, I could create a timesheet in Google Spreadsheets for all of my outside sales people to complete. Once complete, they would invite me to edit and I could import that into my more sophisticated Excel program. All they need is a web connection and Google handles all the distribution. As a user input device, this could really be huge.
I’d like to see how this collaboration aspect works so I need some volunteers. Leave a comment and put your email address in the appropriate field. I will invite you to edit the spreadsheet. Enter your name on line 2 and a formula with your favorite function on line 4 (and whatever else you’d like to muck around with). The outside world will not be able to see your email address, only authors of this blog will.
Here’s what the sheet looks like:
Here’s what the sharing part looks like:
ken Lee:
sign me up
7 June 2006, 8:52 amJim Frasch:
This looks very useful, indeed. I’ve come across a variety of situations where something like this would have been a perfect solution. My only concerns would be how access to the spreadsheet would be handled, as well as the fact that Google would have all of my data. Sure, I can download it in CSV or HTML whenever I wanted, but ultimately it would be on Google’s servers, not mine.
I would love a product from MSFT that would work just like this, but would reside on my server.
-jim
7 June 2006, 8:55 amJohn Walkenbach:
I played around with a bit yesterday. I was actually pretty impressed. I uploaded a file with some fairly complex formulas, and they worked. The major omissions are lack of charts and no support for array formulas. When it encounters an array formula, it simply displays the value - and doesn’t inform you that a formula has been deleted.
In any case, I’m game for your collaboration test.
7 June 2006, 9:26 amMpemba:
OK: Anything for a laugh.
M
7 June 2006, 9:41 amXL-Dennis:
In regard to how much it will cost to invest in Excel Services/SharePoint Server the GSheet will be an attractive platform when it comes to collaborating, especially for projects that involve external people (and that don’t handle confidential data).
At present I’m pleased with what I can do with it and *especially* with the UI
Perhaps GSheet will in short be available in localized versions as well.
Kind regards,
7 June 2006, 9:48 amDennis
Debra Dalgleish:
I’m interested in seeing what it can do, and how Excel reacts when you import the Google spreadsheet. Please add me to your invite list.
7 June 2006, 10:05 amAlex J:
Put me on the list.
7 June 2006, 10:14 amI’m interested in dropdown lists and VBA support (possible?)
I’d also like to see how dates are handled. (e.g. date published, date returned, etc)
Dick Kusleika:
Not so fast.
I invited three with instructions to edit the same cell at 2:00PM CDT to see what happens. We may know more about how it handles conflicts before then, though. I’m editing the spreadsheet now so maybe the invitees can’t even get to it. We’ll see.
7 June 2006, 10:41 amTony E:
Add me to your invite list.
I have tried importing a few simple spreadsheets, the main issue I have is the date format. It displays dates that were in d/m/yyyy format in the original file as m/d/yyyy. Hopefully a later version will allow for international date formats.
7 June 2006, 10:56 amJohn Walkenbach:
And how do you propose that we synchronize our clocks?
7 June 2006, 11:17 amFadi:
interesting to see how far this’ll go.
sign me up please.
Fadi
7 June 2006, 11:30 amStacie:
Sign me up. I’m game.
7 June 2006, 11:51 amJohn Wilson:
Dick,
You can put me on the list too. I do have a google e-mail (jwilson69@gmail.com).
I do a lot of Excel to web conversions a few times a week already on my website and would be interested in seeing what kind of interactivity I could have with other users (players in my pool league).
If you happen to visit my site (http://nbpl.home.att.net), all my team and individual stats for a pool league that I run are done in excel. (If asked for an ID and password, they are both “123″)
Thanks,
7 June 2006, 12:02 pmJohn
Dick Kusleika:
And how do you propose that we synchronize our clocks?
http://www.time.gov/timezone.cgi?Central/d/-6/java
7 June 2006, 12:22 pmDick Kusleika:
Everyone who’s been invited, try to enter something into cell A37 at 2:00PM CDT. But please feel free to mess around with it before and after that. And someone explain how sumproduct is supposed to work.
7 June 2006, 12:25 pmCesar:
Sign me up Dick!
7 June 2006, 12:41 pmDick Kusleika:
You know how everyone always says that 90% of the Excel users only use 5% of the features? Well Google SS will be a good test of that because it has about 5% of the features. It did fix the sharing problem in Excel by making it a free-wheeling, no accountability platform. You could enter something in a cell and have it overwritten in a millisecond and ,as far as I can tell, not know who did it.
Someone will find a mind blowing use for this and it won’t have anything to do with spreadsheets.
7 June 2006, 1:10 pmDoug Glancy:
I’d like to join in also.
7 June 2006, 3:30 pmFrank Hooper:
I’m ready to go. Sign me up. Let’s see what it can do.
7 June 2006, 4:13 pmtim:
Sign me up Dick -I have already tried it and wasnt impressed so far - but may be there are some limited uses for collaborative sharing - eg simple timesheets and the like. I would be interested to try out the collorative functionality.
7 June 2006, 4:57 pmIan Huitson:
I’m game
Hui…
7 June 2006, 5:43 pmSegu:
Guys! Take a look at http://zohosheet.com
7 June 2006, 9:29 pmRoger Govier:
Hi Dick
I would like to participate in this with you.
I have a gmail account with a user name of
rogergovier
Regards
8 June 2006, 2:33 amRoger
Andrew Reynolds:
Dick said:
“You know how everyone always says that 90% of the Excel users only use 5% of the features? … Google SS … has about 5% of the features.”
Assuming that each user uses a different 5% then probability that GSS has the complete set for an individual user is 5%x5% = 0.25%. That’ll leave the majority of the 90% with something missing as well as the 10% who use more (or is it less
?). Unless usability studies have identified the most frequent features that people use.
Either way though, it is apparantly a cheap, very accessible/portable introduction to spreadsheets, although it might be limited to data capture for none critical data in its current incarnation.
8 June 2006, 2:33 amPaul Christie:
I’m willing to give this a go.
8 June 2006, 3:37 amJan Karel Pieterse:
Hi Dick, I signed up yesterday, no reply yet. LET ME IN!!!
8 June 2006, 3:39 amJoao:
Sign me up
8 June 2006, 5:53 amDon Apel:
My projects include large amounts of data and I’ve become very reliant on pivot tables. Maybe a similar feature will be added down the line. In the meantime, I’d like to be included in your testing.
8 June 2006, 6:11 amTerry Grignon:
If you still need people I’d be interested in trying this too.
Thanks,
Terry
8 June 2006, 6:24 amEd K:
I’d like to give it a try.
8 June 2006, 6:49 amEd
Hemant:
hi
8 June 2006, 7:11 ami am heamnt sarda
doco:
[quote]
Someone will find a mind blowing use for this and it won’t have anything to do with spreadsheets.
[/quote]
With that in mind, it always makes me wonder why things on the net are offered for 'free'...
8 June 2006, 7:21 amDick Kusleika:
I've invited everyone who's asked and that wasn't rejected. Note that you don't have to piggy back off of me to play with this, just sign up for yourself. If you want to see how it works with multiple users though, you're welcome to use the one I set up.
If you've signed up and haven't gotten in, I suggest you use a gmail account. Maybe Google puts gmail people at the front of the line.
If you're intrigued by Google SS, you should check out that zohosheet link above. It seems to be a little slower, but more features.
8 June 2006, 7:50 amDoug Glancy:
I notice that some of the formulas break when the sheet is imported into Excel 2003. The formulas are replaced with "=1 ERROR()".
8 June 2006, 12:55 pmTserkezis Stelios:
Dear friend Dick,
I d like to see what kind of collaboration the Google stuff mean.
I d also like your thoughts about the Google spreadsheet for my greek excel site.
Please invite me..
Thanks in advance
Stelios Tserkezis
9 June 2006, 12:42 amPeter Hansen:
Please add me to the invitation list P.Hansen1 (at) gmail.com
9 June 2006, 5:00 amrrocco:
Hi, I’d like to join too
9 June 2006, 5:15 amrodolforocco@gmail.com
Per Arnander:
Hi
9 June 2006, 5:48 amStill need some testing. Sign me up.
Ken Puls:
>If you’ve signed up and haven’t gotten in, I suggest you use a gmail account. Maybe Google puts gmail people at the front of the line.
I signed up June 7th with a non-gmail addy, and June 8th with a gmail addy. I got a reply last night re the first one, telling me that the beta was only for people with Google accounts, and offering to sign me up for one (using the standard sign in page.) I have no idea if the invite would have moved me to the front of the list then, or not, but I've decided to just wait on the gmail one.
9 June 2006, 10:24 amTushar Mehta:
I'm afraid this comment will be lost in the sea of "me too"s but maybe not...
Over the past 3 years or so, every chance I've had I've asked people in MS to create a "web based Office-like product" that blurs the lines between existing apps. Instead it would consist of functional components, each of which could be used independent of the others or in conjunction -- imagine if you will a OneNote "writing pad" where the "things" you put in wherever you want would be components from today's overall Office suite -- XL, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, FrontPage, what-have-you.
Of course, since I never had a chance to talk with senior MS managers, it was obvious I was "whistling in the wind."
When OfficeLive came along I briefly fantasized that someone in MS management had been thinking along the same lines as me. Unfortunately, OfficeLive seems to be another attempt to push SharePoint Services based products.
Now, maybe Google will deliver. I don't want Writely and Google Desktop and GSheet and GMail and G Calendar and Google's video site and...and...and... What I want is something way "outside the box." Imagine a clean slate site where the stuff I can include are functional components: an InMail section here, an IM section there, a hidden reminders "window" that will "pop up" when needed, a ticker to keep an eye on the stock market (and maybe a "quick access to my brokerage to execute a trade" feature), a tiny space to watch streaming news channel (or even a regular TV channel), a space where I can work on a document -- a document that contains text organized as I want, numbers in some tabular fashion in that area, a charting module that lets me create the kinds of charts I want (in one discussion with MS, I referred to it as "a police sketch artist for charts"), overall quality that approaches what one sees in magazines...the possibilities are endless...and, of course, all in an collaborative environment.
No, it won't be free. And, no, I don't have to buy everything all at once. If I don't do magazine quality charts, I don't buy that license. If I don't do active stock trading, I don't need the "rapid-access-to-broker" module.
But, what a world it would be!
9 June 2006, 4:43 pmMike Alexander:
Does anyone else find Google to be a little bit creepy? I never had to sign up for their desktop search tool. I never had to sign up to use Google maps before. I have a Gmail account, but it frankly sucks. I abandoned it over six months ago.
Now when google says to sign up before using one of their tools, I can't help thinking of China and a smiling Mao saying: "Itsa ok...Excer is good...come."
9 June 2006, 8:03 pmdoco:
Mike: I felt the same. I opted to not sign up cause I already have an email account - don't need two. Google is currently building a $1 billion+ facility here in Oregon about 60 miles north of here in The Dalles, Oregon - maybe they need something to fill it with?
10 June 2006, 7:15 amTushar Mehta:
Mike, Doco: How exactly is it "creepy" to be asked to register?
10 June 2006, 12:46 pmRicardo Lopez-Herrera:
Please Include for testing your file. Regards
10 June 2006, 11:12 pmdoco:
Not creepy to me. Just that I don't know why they can't just come out and say they want the email traffic or your info to sell in trade for the widget. Cause they ain't no such thing as free brother!
11 June 2006, 6:33 pmMichael:
sign me up please.
Cheers
Mike
12 June 2006, 2:46 amEmily:
Not supporting background picture nor any graphic
Gmail must remain log in
12 June 2006, 3:30 amJac Ronai:
Hi. I have been trying to learn Google Spreadsheet on my own - the idea presented here is great. I've come not to join, however but to ask: how do I get Google Spreadsheets to make hyperlinks within cells? I am using Firefox on a Mac OSX, if that matters. I have tried Google's help (no help), online googling (nothing useful) so perhaps this group can assist me!
Thanks!
Jac
12 June 2006, 6:56 amDick Kusleika:
I've stopped inviting people. I would, however, like someone to invite me to their google spreadsheet so I can see how it looks from that end. Thanks.
12 June 2006, 11:26 amTushar Mehta:
Invite you? Sure. Send me your email (gmail?) addy and I'll add you to my experimental account.
12 June 2006, 12:38 pmDick Kusleika:
Gee, including my email would have been nice. dkusleika@gmail.com
Thanks.
12 June 2006, 2:39 pmTushar Mehta:
Dick: I sent you 2 invites last night. The first is a "view only" invite to one spreadsheet, the other a "edit" invite to an almost identical sheet.
13 June 2006, 6:36 amDavid Hager:
Dick,
You might want to do an update on Google Spreadsheets. They are becoming pretty powerful.
27 October 2008, 11:50 amDick Kusleika:
You're right David, I should. I still find navigating around cumbersome, mostly because I'm a keyboard guy. Recently I used the Forms feature and it is awesome. When I first used Google Docs, I sent them a suggestion that they should focus on data collection features before "Excel fidelity" type features. Forms, while not full-featured, is great. I used it to collect data for a football pool.
28 October 2008, 8:07 amMark Merrigan:
Hi Dick,
I have a Google account, and I'd be happy to help!
28 October 2008, 12:24 pm