Apple IIgs - Manual (Page 27)

Page 27 of 84 II gs
Printed: Thursday, July 25, 2002 12:14:50 PM
Cut, copy, and paste numbers and formulas from one cell to another.
Change number format (for example, dollars to scientific notation).
Hide a column (to protect confidential information like salary or age of employees).
Display the spreadsheet in a graph.
Define macros so you can type one command that represents many steps in a routine procedure.
Macros are a shortcut for experienced users and an aid to inexperienced users. An experienced
user can define the macro and a less-experienced user can enter data without knowing a whole
lot about how the application works.
If most of your number crunching involves home finances, you might be better off getting an
application especially designed for that purpose.
Communications
With communications software and a modem, you can exchange information with other computers and
with computerized information services over telephone lines. Communications software puts the
resources of a well-stocked library and post office on your desktop.
With communications software and a modem, you can:
Subscribe to a commercial information service and get the latest stock quotes and news.
Send E-mail (electronic mail) to friends and business associates directly or through an
information service.
Post and read notices on computerized bulletin boards (anything from software reviews to
resumes).
Download copies of uncopyrighted software from bulletin boards.
Access your business computer from home.
Order clothes and other things through electronic shopping catalogs (a service sometimes
described as E-mall).
Bank from home (if your bank offers electronic banking).
The obvious advantages of telecommunicating are speed and convenience. You can send and receive
mail in minutes instead of relying on the mail service. You can get news stories and stock
quotes before they're published, and you can go straight to the news that interests you instead
of wading through all the other news in a newspaper or TV program. You can research court cases
and topics for books, articles, or homework assignments without going to a library.
A less obvious advantage of exchanging information over phone lines is that it circumvents the
incompatibility that otherwise exists between different brands of computers. You can't take an
IBM disk, put it in an Apple II disk drive, load the document into the Apple II, and work with
that document. But you can send a document from an IBM computer to an Apple II computer over
phone lines and save it on an Apple II disk.
Before you establish contact with a particular computer or information service for the first
time, you need to tell your communications application how to talk to that other computer. You
do this by giving your communications application certain information about that computer