So, the Excel replacement

rainwebs — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 17:55:07 -0500

So, the Excel replacement is here. This was missing in my post about Flex applications two weeks ago.

I had a look at the Blist video, and although it was not possible to completely listen to it, it's interesting to hear that the CEO talks about "the database for end users". Reality shows that Excel is indeed (mis-)used this way ;-).

Most interesting to me, with all these new office applications, is the collaboration, that is Internet-like and in the center of the user experience. This is something new we don't have in such a quality in the current office packages.

But, there's still something important we have no real solution for: trust. Although, the technical aspects of such implementations allow to get a better user experience, more comfortable workflows, for short: a bit of the innovation we missed the last years, people talk about their documents and misuse.

To use such applications you have to give up the control of your physical files. Technically, this is an advantage to me, because I can expect a better backup concept or anti-hacking security than with my desktop computer. And notebooks can be stolen anyway. The possibility of a loss of documents is smaller. So, there are a lot of advantages.

"Misuse" means using my documents to create something for spamming me or steal know-how, and the like. I discussed this the first time around 2001 when I presented the ideas of an "Online StarOffice" at Sun Microsystems to bankers. Last week there was a similar discussion in our project after my blog post. This is the emotional side of the "new office". Although, what if a company would do this? How long could such a company survive with such a reputation in the Internet age?

I wonder if Internet giants, like Google, Adobe, etc., can provide enough confidence. If so, new workflows can be established, that are more flexible and location-independent.

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So, the Excel replacement