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I've never used it, Lotus Improv seems like it was awesome https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgGmKD87U3M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgGmKD87U3M (plus the 80

I've never used it, Lotus Improv seems like it was awesome https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgGmKD87U3M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgGmKD87U3M (plus the 80s–90s vibes of this video are simply incredible) I think there's still a ton of room for spreadsheet tech to evolve, but nobody seems to really be trying anymore, because Excel is the Gold Standard that everyone seems comfortable with. for example: why do neither of the mainstream spreadsheet apps (Excel, Google Sheets) have first-class support for row and column headers? seems like an absolute no-brainer to me, and everyone who has worked in spreadsheets for more than thirty minutes.

pjmlp 3y ago
An improv video, thanks for the link. I only have the contemporary magazines with analysis of it.
layer8 3y ago
> first-class support for row and column headers Excel provides Tables for that. Outside tables, you can define named row or column ranges, and reference them by name, including their intersections. The names are just not displayed in the headers (use Tables if you want that).
- airstrike 3y ago
  emphasis on "first-class"
  - layer8 3y ago
    Tables have first-class row and column headers, I would say.
    - airstrike 3y ago
      I'm arguing tables being contained within sheets effectively make column/row referencing "second-class".
flenserboy 3y ago
Improv was interesting — and then there was Wingz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informix_Wingz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informix_Wingz), another very forward-thinking SS from the early days. I'd love to see a history & comparison of early SS/WP/DB applications in order to see what ideas were tried & left behind because they were too outside the norm for the day or required too many resources which could be reclaimed & worked into today's software.
airstrike 3y ago
Couldn't agree more. It's absolutely a no brainer. I'm actually building an app to try to bring first-class support for row and column headers (and much more)
nenaoki 3y ago
Numbers has some good incremental improvements. It does have first-class support for headers, and even uses them for references which makes things absurdly clear in comparison to the plain A1 format. Multiple tables per sheet is also particularly great IMO. The web version was mostly replete last I used it half a decade ago, including realtime collaboration with mac and iOS.

pjmlp 3y ago

An improv video, thanks for the link. I only have the contemporary magazines with analysis of it.

layer8 3y ago

> first-class support for row and column headers Excel provides Tables for that. Outside tables, you can define named row or column ranges, and reference them by name, including their intersections. The names are just not displayed in the headers (use Tables if you want that).

airstrike 3y ago
emphasis on "first-class"
- layer8 3y ago
  Tables have first-class row and column headers, I would say.
  - airstrike 3y ago
    I'm arguing tables being contained within sheets effectively make column/row referencing "second-class".

flenserboy 3y ago

Improv was interesting — and then there was Wingz (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informix_Wingz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informix_Wingz), another very forward-thinking SS from the early days. I'd love to see a history & comparison of early SS/WP/DB applications in order to see what ideas were tried & left behind because they were too outside the norm for the day or required too many resources which could be reclaimed & worked into today's software.

airstrike 3y ago

Couldn't agree more. It's absolutely a no brainer. I'm actually building an app to try to bring first-class support for row and column headers (and much more)

nenaoki 3y ago

Numbers has some good incremental improvements. It does have first-class support for headers, and even uses them for references which makes things absurdly clear in comparison to the plain A1 format. Multiple tables per sheet is also particularly great IMO. The web version was mostly replete last I used it half a decade ago, including realtime collaboration with mac and iOS.