Replies

1. 
   CloudHidden | Jun 06, 2006 03:08am | #1

   I admire them for approaching the market with cleverness and invention, rather than brutish force and intimidation. That's the way to create new uses and products--new genres even--that are indispensable to people.

1. 
   Lansdown | Jun 06, 2006 03:31am | #2

   I agree. Very innovative company.
   One of my daughters playmates father went to school with the founders.
   I have been toying with an idea that I might propose to them.
   If I suddenly drop off BT you'll know they bit.

1. 
   CloudHidden | Jun 06, 2006 04:10am | #3

   The challenge is how to propose it so that the credit accrues to you...

2. 
   andybuildz | Jun 07, 2006 06:15am | #13

   I have been toying with an idea that I might propose to them. >>>
   I think she went to Cold Spring HArbor HS......If Blodgett says, Tipi tipi tipi it must be so!

   TipiFest 06~~> Send me your email addy for a Paypal invoice to the greatest show on earth~~>[email protected]

1. 
   Lansdown | Jun 07, 2006 06:28am | #14

   Who?

1. 
   try50772 | Jun 07, 2006 06:38am | #15

   Its funny, but I was at a meeting last month and a Prof from PSU said Google will have a serious OS and Office type package out in the next 5 years. And they will give it away. Free. Download it(Sorry dial uppers)and run. Thinking is it will kick Microsoft off the top pretty fast. The selling point is the system using the web better, faster, and more seamlessly. And storing info on their web servers for global transfer. I thought no way. Then Sketchup came out. Free. ;)Everyone loves Google, right?

2. 
   MarineEngineer | Jun 07, 2006 02:26pm | #19

   Everyone loves Google, right?

   not necessarily. When Google was just a search company, pretty much everyone was happy/impressed. Now that they're branching out into other areas, people are starting to question them.

   Just because they're giving stuff away for free, doesn't mean anything. The Micro$oft antitrust suit was for, in part, giving away IE for free.

   Marine Engineerfair winds and following seas

3. 
   try50772 | Jun 07, 2006 06:24pm | #20

   But, by in large, Google is a trusted name in many households. And peoples contempt of MS could help. I'm betting on them in the long haul.

4. 
   MarineEngineer | Jun 07, 2006 07:38pm | #21

   I think Google is a good brand. But I'm expecting over the next few years that there will be lots of stories about big bad Google and their predatory behavior, using their search monopoly to squeeze out competitors in xyz.People love to b!tch about companies that provide good service at low (or even free) prices.Marine Engineerfair winds and following seas

5. 
   Stuart | Jun 07, 2006 09:17pm | #22

   This is their corporate philosophy: http://www.google.com/corporate/tenthings.html

6. 
   try50772 | Jun 07, 2006 10:09pm | #23

   I like it.

7. 
   andybuildz | Jun 07, 2006 07:00am | #16

   one of the chicks that founded GOOGLEIf Blodgett says, Tipi tipi tipi it must be so!

   TipiFest 06~~> Send me your email addy for a Paypal invoice to the greatest show on earth~~>[email protected]

8. 
   QCInspector | Jun 07, 2006 12:24pm | #17

   Until the Google office is ready you can get OpenOffice. It's a free download, which should meet with the approval of many, and it does more than I'll ever need.http://www.openoffice.org/

9. 
   rjw | Jun 07, 2006 01:11pm | #18

   >>Until the Google office is ready you can get OpenOffice. It's a free download, which should meet with the approval of many, and it does more than I'll ever need.Or you can download a trial version of WordPerfect.http://tinyurl.com/74tgj(Other Corel apps can be trial DL's from http://tinyurl.com/6nrb8) The full WP version isn't free, (there are several versions, the "Family" version is pretty inexpensive) but OpenOffice is still pretty rudimentary and has areas of instability, and it uses the same object oriented approach that Word uses which is fundamentally at odds with doing complex documents.If all you need are simple letters/memos, etc you can get by with Works, WordPad or Notepad.If you need just simple spreadsheet stuff, WP's tables feature has all the power you're likely to need, so you can saty in one application. And WP has "Reveal Codes" so you can see exactly how the document and all of its bits and pieces are put together, so when a document gets complex, or goes wonky, you can understand it / fix it.Finally, you don't need to understand styles in WP, which are essential in Word for anything fancy (WP has styles, but doesn't need them.)(For years, Wordys said "Reveal Codes is old technology - you don't need it." Word 2003 has introduced a faint echo of RC. Most of the "innovations" in the various releases of Word are were introduced in WP a version or 2 before.)Somewhat out of date, but a user comparison is at http://hem.passagen.se/worldnet/wpvsword/

   Fighting Ignorance since 1967

   It's taking way longer than we thought

2. 
   blue_eyed_devil | Jun 06, 2006 06:17am | #4

   Another gizmo that I won't know how to use.

   blue

    

1. 
   Lansdown | Jun 06, 2006 06:21am | #5

   It's not a gizmo, it's a spreadsheet, very useful for things like estimating, bookeeping, baseball stats, etc.

1. 
   blue_eyed_devil | Jun 07, 2006 01:22am | #6

   Useful for people smart enough to make them work.  I'm not smart enough. To me, it's a gizmo.

   blue 

1. 
   Lansdown | Jun 07, 2006 01:45am | #7

   If you can frame a house, you are smart enough to use a spreadsheet, just takes a little practice, don't be intimidated.

2. 
   seeyou | Jun 07, 2006 02:39am | #8

   >>>>>To me, it's a gizmo

    

   That's what some think about  pnuematic nail guns and telehandlers. Don't get me started on the internal combustion engine. 

   Does this hat make my butt look big?

   http://grantlogan.net/

1. 
   jonblakemore | Jun 07, 2006 04:18am | #9

   And what about speed squares? 

   Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA

2. 
   Snort | Jun 07, 2006 04:19am | #10

   Don't get me started on the internal combustion engine.Wait a minnit, are you intimatin' we gots engins insides us? Sheeeooowt! I need a dump truck, baby, to unload my head

3. 
   seeyou | Jun 07, 2006 04:27am | #11

   Sorry, I meant "infernal". 

   Does this hat make my butt look big?

   http://grantlogan.net/

4. 
   Snort | Jun 07, 2006 04:37am | #12

   awlright, which leads us to extubular exfarctions, which while propulsive are also quite repulsive...dang it's time for South Park. I need a dump truck, baby, to unload my head