Google Spreadsheets is a real lifesaver. Since the birth of Gmail, I have been storing data that I need access to in my drafts folder. This includes my checkbook ledger, songs I hear on the radio that I want to download later, and even bookmarks. Now, I can simply use a spreadsheet for all this information.
But how does Google Spreadsheet stack up against competition? Who is the competition? Well, Microsoft I guess. Nobody uses Lotus stuff anymore, do they?
I like Google Spreadsheets. It does what I need to do. It has most of the formatting that you would expect in Microsoft Excel. You can format the cells as money, dates, numbers… you can format the text in the cells anyway you want: bold, color, large font. The sorting and inserting of rows and columns is pretty intuitive.
You can also use math functions in cells! For example, for my checkbook ledger, I can have it sum up the columns from my checking and savings into a cell labeled as TOTAL. Just like you would in Excel!
Also, you won’t ever have to worry about losing data. Google Spreadsheets saves as you go!
My ONLY complaint was that I couldn’t find a way to drag out a pattern. For example, in Excel, if I wanted to continue a pattern of dates down a column, I would simply highlight the cells that defined the pattern, and drag down. I can’t find a way to do this with Google. This is, for a me, a pretty big dealbuster. I use that feature a lot.
But this makes up for it:
The coolest thing that Google Spreadsheets has to offer would be the collaboration features. With the click of a button, you can invite one or more people to view and edit your document in REAL TIME! You can actually see what changes they are making, as they make them. Very handy! While we are on the subject, if you don’t have an invitation to Google Spreadsheets yet, just find someone who does, and ask them to invite you to view a spreadsheet on their account. Doing this will grant you access! If you don’t have any friends with a Google Spreadsheets invitation yet, or don’t have any friends, post a comment here and I will do it for you.