Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wuarchive!emory!att!princeton!shade!sksircar From: sksircar@shade.Princeton.EDU (Subrata Sircar) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Re: Spreadsheets Message-ID: <8242@idunno.Princeton.EDU> Date: 13 Apr 91 18:19:38 GMT References: <2473@fornax.UUCP> <1991Apr13.115926.4528@neon.Stanford.EDU> Sender: news@idunno.Princeton.EDU Organization: SPAMIT Lines: 85 zimmer@calvin.stanford.edu (Andrew Zimmerman) writes: > [...] the big three: > Spreadsheets > Wordprocessing/Desktop Publishing > Databases This is an outdated catagorization of software, IMHO. Where do Mathematica, Matlab, compilers, and graphics programs fit here? Any business that is buying computers just for these three uses will buy cheap IBM clones, which can do this and nothing else. If all you want is text/data entry, you don't want a personal computer - you want lots of terminals hooked to a minicomputer or mainframe-type machine. > Now, spreadsheets. Right now, there is only one that you can get, Improv. >(I know about Wingz, but last I talked to Informix, it wasn't shipping for >the 040). I have a lot of problems with Improv. > 1. It lacks some graph types that many people want. Actually, no spreadsheet will suit everyone's graphing needs. If I want to graph something on a Mac I'd use Kaleidagraph, which can do damn near anything you want. If I'm on a Unix box, I use gnuplot. > 2. I tried to use it just as a spreadsheet. It did not seem obvious to >me how to use it. Something as simple as swapping two rows took me 20 >minutes to figure out. And even then, I had to do a copy and then a delete. My experience differs from yours. When Improv was demonstrated at Princeton, I was able to goof around with it for a little while. As someone who had used a spreadsheet once before (to keep track of rotisserie baseball stats) I was quite pleased. Being able to flip rows and columns with a keystroke impressed me a lot, as I always wanted to be able to do that. It seems to me to be ideal for introducing people to spreadsheets, and hence perfect for an organization that is starting out. >But, the worst thing about Improv is that it is not compatible with other >spreadsheets. >(Yes, it can almost import 1-2-3 spreadsheets, but it is not compatible) I'd like to respond to this in two ways: first in my normal tone of voice, then in a nasal whine :<) If it can import 1-2-3 spreadsheets, that's all you need. If you're just starting a business, you don't have old documents to worry about and you can certainly get other documents in 1-2-3 format. If you're upgrading, and your old spreadsheets can't read/write 1-2-3 format, you are a very rare organism indeed. Improv can also write 1-2-3 format, I believe, so you're covered there. Secondly, compatability between platforms is highly overrated. Name me any Mac software that was compatible with IBM when they started out. Even now, with the advent of Windows, only applications released by the same company are even remotely alike. Microsoft products look the same across different platforms, and no doubt if they released WordNeXT it would look similar, but it looks nothing like any Claris product. Why do you expect the NeXT to be any different? Thirdly, compatibility is on the other end of a balance from innovation. If everything is backwards compatible, you can't ever make new strides. > I feel that lack of a compatible spreadsheet will be the downfall of NeXT. >It will prevent businesses from moving from IBM/PC's and Mac's to NeXT's. >Instead, they will go to high end PC's, or high end Macs, or Sun machines. >All of these run industry standard software. Industry standard software? If you mean "each of these runs the standard software FOR THAT MACHINE" you'd be right but irrelevant. If you're saying that businesspeople will be scared away because "it's not 1-2-3" ... well, you may be right, but I'd like to think that people are willing to try new and possibly better products... Lastly, have you considered the possibility that Improv, and things like Interface Builder, might become the NEW industry standard? I'm not sure if NeXT will succeed. But if they don't, I don't think software incompatibility with other machines will be the reason. A reasonable platform will persuade people to port/write software for it. After all, needs must, when the devil drives. Subrata Sircar | sksircar@phoenix.princeton.edu |Prophet& SPAMIT Charter Member I don't speak for Princeton, and they don't speak for me. "May their souls rot in easy-listening hell!" - Johnny Melnibone, GRIMJACK #76 "I seem to suffer from irrelevant flashbacks." - Paul, PAUL THE SAMURAI #1