Google spreadsheets

I have been using the google spreadsheets for a while and I think it's a cool idea. It's Web 2.0 at its best. It's fun to use and quite convenient. I especially like the fact they can export and import from/to Excel files. No wonder Microsoft must be fidgeting. After all, the Office suite is Microsoft's cash-cow.

But it also shows a problem which people usually dismiss too easily when they talk/dream about Web 2.0. It is quite slow! Initially you're ok with it, but then, especially if you update the spreadsheet often, it's a pain to wait for all those trips to the server. I think we need another dimension to the web software. We need Web 3.0 or something that transcends the whole concept of Web as we think of it now.

WPF and .NET 3.0 is a nice start, but again, it's just a start. And maybe the main problem is it comes from Microsoft. Usually technologies from Microsoft have a strong business agenda behind them, they're not open (as in standards, not source) and they're not very popular with people from other platforms, especially in the Linux camp.