Re:New Google Sheets: faster, more powerful, and works offline
by oneeyedpigeon on Wednesday December 11, 2013 @01:21PM
(#6889441)
I'm not here to defend Google apps (although I use them everyday) as much as web apps in general.
> Once you're used to real applications
What makes an application 'real' as opposed to 'not real'? Did you mean 'native'?
> It's not just the features that are missing
One potential upside to web apps is that, by constraint, a lot more thought needs to go into what should be included and what should be left out. For example, I find a lot of features in Word, Excel, etc. to be completely unnecessary and, moreover, counterproductive. A stripped-down interface, and even functionality set, does have some advantages.
> I can't assume I can right click and get anything useful
Often the case for native apps, although - admittedly - less so
> The concept of a consistent menu bar you can access with hotkeys is gone
Ditto. OSX almost solves the former at the expense of the latter. Applications like Chrome break the single-menu paradigm, though. Windows has a host of applications that invent their own menu styles/behaviours.
> And the input lag is intolerable.
Which specific file type? I rarely have problems with documents or spreadsheets.
> Having all of my documents stored centrally is a real, but small, convenience
It's a massive convenience for me. Dropbox is a good alternative, but I never want to go back to the days of having to remember to carry a specific USB stick everywhere I go and/or using network drives that are a nightmare to access anywhere but the office.
> Once you're used to real applications
What makes an application 'real' as opposed to 'not real'? Did you mean 'native'?
> It's not just the features that are missing
One potential upside to web apps is that, by constraint, a lot more thought needs to go into what should be included and what should be left out. For example, I find a lot of features in Word, Excel, etc. to be completely unnecessary and, moreover, counterproductive. A stripped-down interface, and even functionality set, does have some advantages.
> I can't assume I can right click and get anything useful
Often the case for native apps, although - admittedly - less so
> The concept of a consistent menu bar you can access with hotkeys is gone
Ditto. OSX almost solves the former at the expense of the latter. Applications like Chrome break the single-menu paradigm, though. Windows has a host of applications that invent their own menu styles/behaviours.
> And the input lag is intolerable.
Which specific file type? I rarely have problems with documents or spreadsheets.
> Having all of my documents stored centrally is a real, but small, convenience
It's a massive convenience for me. Dropbox is a good alternative, but I never want to go back to the days of having to remember to carry a specific USB stick everywhere I go and/or using network drives that are a nightmare to access anywhere but the office.