Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.

Re: Numeracy and Excel

Author:Oliver Breidenbach
Posted:4/25/2000; 1:51:11 PM
Topic:Email to Brian Behlendorf
Msg #:16677 (In response to 16671)
Prev/Next:16676 / 16678

By the way, the surest way to have Microsoft improve an area of their products is to create a free or cheap plug-in, get it used widely, and prove demand.

This is also an excellent way to get out of business or be bought.

You may be right, that few people are smart enough to comprehend more complex software. I content that this is because the software is to complex and difficult.

Word has millions of features. As does Excel. But they don´t get the basics right. Word is a typewriter emulator. Using it for Web Content is like using a toothbrush to comb your hair. Excel is an ancient calculation table emulator. The problem of both is that they really don´t understand and don´t care about the content. Basically, Word just prints paper, and Excel just adds numbers.

The Web has a totally different content model than Word supports. The use of Word for webpages will lead to less quality sites. But the web needs more high quality sites. And Quality is determined by content.

You see where that is going.

Cheers,

Oliver.




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