Comments on: Collaborative Spreadsheets: The Killer AJAX App? http://pathfindersoftware.com/2006/05/collaborative_s/ The Fastest Way to Launch Successful Software Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:36:03 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Tony Delroy http://pathfindersoftware.com/2006/05/collaborative_s/#comment-5131 Tony Delroy Wed, 25 Apr 2007 01:28:49 +0000 http://www.pathf.com/blogs/?p=577#comment-5131 <p>Interesting article. I agree that enhanced features around spreadsheets will be greatly appreciated by many users. Spreadsheets are to end-users what scripting languages like BASIC or Ruby are to programmers, a hideous unstructured untype-safe mess that can be grown organically. Very seductive to the untrained, and as pointed out by Craig above, generally unmaintainable at enterprise level. Which is not to say such features aren't enormously desirable or valuable to a firm and the people used to working with spreadsheets: most projects within an enterprise aren't enterprise scale, and don't need to be.</p> <p>What seems to be missing from your article is an explanation of why AJAX is useful for delivering this. Other than the potential "no-installation" benefit (which is of less importance in enterprises where the software platform is centrally controlled), what does AJAX offer that you can't do better using traditional PC-hosted client apps and a central server?</p> <p>Regards,</p> <p>Tony</p> Interesting article. I agree that enhanced features around spreadsheets will be greatly appreciated by many users. Spreadsheets are to end-users what scripting languages like BASIC or Ruby are to programmers, a hideous unstructured untype-safe mess that can be grown organically. Very seductive to the untrained, and as pointed out by Craig above, generally unmaintainable at enterprise level. Which is not to say such features aren’t enormously desirable or valuable to a firm and the people used to working with spreadsheets: most projects within an enterprise aren’t enterprise scale, and don’t need to be.

What seems to be missing from your article is an explanation of why AJAX is useful for delivering this. Other than the potential “no-installation” benefit (which is of less importance in enterprises where the software platform is centrally controlled), what does AJAX offer that you can’t do better using traditional PC-hosted client apps and a central server?

Regards,

Tony

]]> By: Craig Cameron http://pathfindersoftware.com/2006/05/collaborative_s/#comment-5130 Craig Cameron Wed, 04 Oct 2006 23:41:21 +0000 http://www.pathf.com/blogs/?p=577#comment-5130 <p>The thing about spread sheets is that ultimately they are just a file. They will never solve big problems only small problems across small organisations or teams. They will never be a central repository of information in larger organisations...actually let me re-phrase that, they SHOULD never be a central repository of information in larger organisations.</p> The thing about spread sheets is that ultimately they are just a file. They will never solve big problems only small problems across small organisations or teams. They will never be a central repository of information in larger organisations…actually let me re-phrase that, they SHOULD never be a central repository of information in larger organisations.

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