Re: Microsoft Excel spreadsheet editing directly from within emacs.

[Samuel Wales <samologist@gmail.com>]

angels fear to tread but imo the degree to which one can say /a
priori/ that a personal ui preference is "WRONG" can have limits?

org spreadsheets can have strengths and weaknesses.  whether they
matter depends on the user.  example: for me, they are:

- i use them infrequently and have to learn their syntax and commands
anew every time.  that is /just me/.  [dunno if this could be improved
such as with ergonomics/accessibility improvements and more standard
and less horizontal using interfaces.]
- for some reason, ses and excel are intuitive /for me/.  i can't give
a song and dance about why, but i can say that it is not because i
have huge experience with those.  i do not.  they just are quicker to
pick up again after years of non-use.  /for me/.
- i like elisp [this is /just me/] and unfortuately do not know r, so
elisp is great
- calc is awe inspiring even though i almost never use it.  it would
be great if it, or org, or both, had even better and
intuitive/convenient /for me/ chart producing ability.
- plain text is great [few on the org list will disagree]
- [perhaps a compromise would include a new feature in which gui
spreadsheet data or ses gets saved entirely in org blocks?  dunno.]
- i suppose i vary between needing only a little data and data size
that org is unlikely to deal with in an org table [as opposed perhaps
to an enormous block or something]

but that is merely my experience.  reference to authorities or
argumentation is unlikely to change that much.  what might help imo is
figuring out if org can accommodate different use cases, including
basic gui/ses-mode type spreadsheet learning curve.