Yesterday, Google announced a limited availability of their new web-based spreadsheet application aptly named Google Spreadsheets. Is it nicely-designed and does it deliver basic spreadsheet functionality? Absolutely. Is this the first web-based spreadsheet application? No. Is this the best web-based spreadsheet application? Possibly. Is this going to disrupt the MS Excel-dominated spreadsheet market? Not anytime soon. Let’s face it folks, barring some special circumstances, I can’t think of anyone who would prefer to use a web-based application instead of a locally-installed application. While Web UI technologies have improved to the point where a web-based spreadsheet is feasible, it still pales in comparison to the rich UI libraries available in any modern OS.

So does this mean that Google has failed? Not at all. Every large R&D organization has tons of development projects going on at any given time. However, in just about every other industry, the majority of those projects never see the light of day. Many projects are done just to gain internal expertise, others are skunkwork projects that never had a clear market driver, and other projects are simply cut by management for all kinds of reasons. The unique thing about the web software industry is that the cost of manufacturing is nil. If you have a piece of software, you can basically flip a switch and it’s live to the public. Google probably knows full well that many of its projects aren’t revolutionary in their present form, but there is little reason not to make it publicly available. Part of the research and design process is receiving feedback and I think that’s what Google Labs is all about. Kind of like “here’s a cool project some of us (engineers) have been hacking at…we wanna see what you think and how you guys use it”.

The problem which Google runs into is that they’ve built a brand like no other. A brand that screams innovation. Because of this brand, people expect awesomely innovative products from Google. Those of us in the tech community who follow the bleeding edge of innovation are often less than satisfied with the innovation we see from Google.

As I say time and time again, I think a lot of people in the community need to get a breath of fresh air - from outside the Silicon Valley bubble - and realize that a simple web-based spreadsheet from Google is not going to challenge Microsoft in any meaningful way for a long, long time.

Some bloggers have commented that this lack of innovation is starting to hurt Google’s brand and reputation for innovation. I don’t really think so. If you were to demo Google Spreadsheets to the average Web user, they’re likely to be wowed and comment on Google’s brilliance. However, it’s also a safe bet that they’ll still use Excel the next time they need a spreadsheet.

Note: I’m not anti web-apps. I think they will be very much be a part of computing within the next 5-10 years. Read some of my vision