Rethinking the Spreadsheet

For many of us working on a spreadsheet means working with Microsoft Excel and in the corporate world that is still true almost all of the time. However in the rest of the world alternatives, led by Google Docs, are changing this.

Now at first, you might think the appeal of Google Docs is that it is free vs. what it costs to license Microsoft Excel or Office and that is certainly true.

However what is really happening is applications like Google Docs are changing the way we think and deal with spreadsheets and documents in general. Of course Microsoft is trying to play catch-up with this new way of working, but in general it is difficult for incumbents to adjust if the new way is significantly better then the old way.

So what makes Google Spreadsheets better?

• The ability to access your files from anywhere you have an Internet connection as the web (do a dare use the over-hyped word "cloud") is the file system. This is far different then syncing a local file system to the web. Of course you will still want to properly back up your Google files.

• The ability to use web functions like =GoogleLookup("Roger Clemens"; "earned run average") to present and use dynamic data. Yes I know Roger's ERA is pretty static at this point :). Click here for more details and examples of Google functions
  

• Sharing and embedding files - It is very easy to share your files with your co-workers (individuals and groups) or the public with proper access controls. Embedding these documents in websites gives you a whole new way to share the data in the documents, which is probably why you created them in the first place.

Now at this point Google Docs are not the functional equivalent of Microsoft Office, but since most folks only use a fraction of what Office offers, you may find that Google Docs provide what you need from a "legacy" perspective while opening up a new way of creating and sharing data and information, which at the end of the day is what is all about.

Let me know your thoughts on Google Docs and what new uses you are finding.

Simple is often better

In music, like technology, simpler is often better. This video by the late Israel Kamakawiwo is just a man, a ukulele and a beautiful backdrop (Hawaii). Next time you have a technology problem think about keeping the complexity level as low as possible. In the meantime, enjoy the video.

Technology Across The Pond - Part II

Continuing the discussion on my recent trip to the UK. In part I I talked about getting to the UK, in part II I will talk about my technology experiences while in the UK.

• During the car ride from the airport to the hotel, I was pleased to see my Blackberry working as if I was still in the US. Thanks goes to that AT&T global network leveraging the O2 network locally. Of course I haven't seen the bill from the trip to know what, if anything, additional my company is going to have to pay for my Blackberry usage.

• Checked into the Hilton Hotel at Canary Wharf and was happy to see not only multiple UK power outlets, but also a US power outlet. While I had a UK adapter and my trusty Belkin Mini Surge Protector (that I have written about previously) to support multiple items, having the US power outlet provided even more flexibility

• Of course my trusty Verizon Wi-Fi card was useless in the UK, so I had to rely on the connectivity options provide by the Hilton. The good news is they offered a nice wired Ethernet offering. The bad news is the cost of the of connection was quite steep and the fact that it was priced in GBP means the dollar cost of it was just this side of ridiculous. However since I had work commitments that required connectivity, I went ahead and ordered it.

• While I was doing my work, the Bears game was starting back in Chicago. Since I had to be up to get my work done and had already paid for an Internet connection, I figured I would use part of the bandwidth to listen the game via NFL.COM's local audio broadcast. So I shelled out $4.99 (on my dime, not the companies) to pick up the game. It was good to hear the game from Jeff Joniak and the team, but since they don't broadcast the commercials I got to hear a lot of recorded messages. I almost prefer the commercials to the repetitive recordings.

In the next part of this series I head to the office and on to my clients locations with more technology observations.

I know that face

Google recently released Picasa version 3.5 of its photo management software. The key new feature of this release is name tags which provides the ability to tag your pictures with the name of the person or persons in the picture.

For those of you who use Facebook, it features very similar tagging mechanism; however, Picasa also provides facial recognition, so once you identify a person once (or twice) it will scan all of your photos and identify other photos containing the same person.

Once you have tagged your photos, you now have "photo albums" by person, which you can view and perform other features.

In addition the name tagging features carries over to Picasa's Web Albums, if you set your privacy settings to allow it.

When you factor in features such as the ability to embed in a slideshow of your web album, Picasa provides a lot of utility for your photo handling needs.




A couple of caveats, one is that Picasa is not at the same level as Flickr in terms of community and features professional photographers need.

Secondly, the name tagging feature is designed to work at the workstation level vs. at the picture or network level. This means if you have multiple PCs they will not share the naming work you perform on the initial PC. Plus you have to back up both a configuration file and database files. Here is a link to good thread on the topic.