Blogging from Google Docs and Spreadsheets

Up until now, all my blogs have been done in gmail and then sent to my blog account via e-mail. A further trip is then necessary to check the formatting, fix any broken links and generally check things over.

This posting is different. I am using Google Docs and Spreadsheets to write this and then publish it directly to the blog. Hopefully this will allow me to sort out the formatting and the links in situ, and have the completed post arrive without need of further assistance.

I have used the spreadsheet side of Docs and Spreadsheets before with much success. The collaboration aspect is fantastic for myself and my accountant to work out my tax finances together, on the same doc, at the same time. As changes are made, they are visible to the other person immediately. This makes pointing things out and working through problems remotely as easy as working next to each other.

I can see how companies have taken the Google application suite on-board. Combine the collaboration aspects of this tool with the functionality it offers, and the integration with mail and calendar, and I really can't see a compelling reason to use Office in 80% of scenarios. There will always be a need for complex macros in Excel, but the vast majority of the stuff I do is already available in Google's offering.

Now, to publish and see if this works...