The reason why you often encounter spreadsheets with so many columns is because spreadsheets really, really want data to be flat. Analysts often like to have al

The reason why you often encounter spreadsheets with so many columns is because spreadsheets really, really want data to be flat. Analysts often like to have all the possible datasets pre-joined into one monstrous sheet, then they can easily slice and dice it up however they want. With a relational database this would be kind of insane, as it's much easier to normalize data into separate tables, then just join up them up when you need to.