epiac1216: One More Web-Based SpreadSheet

epiac1216 (

epiac1216) wrote,
@ 2006-04-08 15:46:00

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Current mood:	geeky
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Entry tags:	spreadsheets

One More Web-Based SpreadSheet

On March 17, I published an entry dubbed, In Search of a Web-Based Spreadsheet , in which I reviewed several on-line spreadsheets. A corporate executive in Hong Kong read it. Yesterday I received a message from David Lee, Chairman of Team And Concepts Limited , a.k.a. TnC., requesting that I take a look at their product EditGrid Spreadsheet . I accepted.

TnC is a company headquartered in Hong Kong specialized in offering solutions to professional event organizers. It offers a wide range of solutions to different kinds of event organizers, including universities, communities, public and commercial event organizers.

EditGrid Public Beta 1 (rev 1219) was released on April 7th. It is targeted for trial use by public users--both personal and corporate. The focus of this release is on the core features essential for business use.

This web-based application is an online spreadsheet service for intensive collaborations of large amounts of data. The grid is huge. Its columns range from letters A to IV and has more than five thousand rows. I scrolled all the way to row 5,000 and then stopped, but there was more.

According to David Lee, EditGrid was specifically designed as a Web2 centric product. It should be able to handle a large amount of data and allow real time collaboration by multiple users anywhere anytime. The power words used by TnC's people are Access, Collaborate and Share.

Access across a large number of computers, across workplaces anywhere in the world at any time. Collaborate with friends, colleagues together in real time. Share knowledge with the world. That is a powerful and solid concept of where the web is heading. If you study del.icio.us, Flock browser, Konfabulator and Flickr; all are oriented at intensive collaboration, sharing and interaction amongst users. This is what the Web platform is all about, and this software has it.

EditGrid's main features as of Apri 7, 2006 are:

1. Full spreadsheet application at your fingertips with a web browser.
2. Font styles, alignments and row operations.
3. Multiple-cell selection, keyboard navigation, short-cut keys and full control from user.
4. Spreadsheets can be accessed directly with clean URLs for easy sharing.
5. Export to all popular spreadsheet formats (MS Excel, HTML, Comma Separated Values and Gnumeric).
6. More than one hundred formulas--118 to be exact--are supported. Full support is not far away. I looked and looked and looked but could not find them. The designers hid them so well so that end users have to pull their hair and break their teeth in an effort to build a simple "SUM" formula. A big disappointment.
7. Control the access to your spreadsheet rights. Only share your spreadsheet with those you have invited (Private, Public-Read Only and Public options).

Some of David Lee's suggestions for usage of EditGrid are:

1. Personal:
--Personal financial statements
--To-do list, shopping list
--Holiday planning with loved ones (boy/girlfriend)

2. Business:
--Customers and suppliers contact list
--Project task list
--Staff Roaster
--Mini Data Bases (Employees records, sick-leave records, annual-leave records, supplier's contact list, etc.).

RECAPITULATION:

EditGrid is a strong contender amongst web-based spreadsheets with one big flaw the size of the Grand Canyon. The ideas behind it are rock solid, and there is no doubt in my mind, this is the trend of the future. Registering and opening an account is easier than winking an eye to a pretty lady. It reminded me of del.icio.us in the way information can be easily shared with others. Building a spreadsheet is effortless if you are accustomed to using other spreadsheets or word processors. All the icons are pretty standards and require no explanation.

My main concern is the difficulty in creating formulas. Spreadsheets are mainly used to crunch numbers instead of just structuring information in tables. There are a zillion other utilities that can do that just as well or better than EditGrid. Business applications heavily depend on spreadsheets to ease the task of number manipulation. If EditGrid does not provide this feature in an attractive and easy to use fashion, the business community will pass by without even waving. In my case, I would not be interested. There are other better alternatives. In a nutshell: If you want to share information in a grid with others around the world in real time, this is an excellent choice. If you want to use this software to crunch numbers, move on. The ball is in your court.

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