iphone spreadsheets

[Cholly]

Playing NYRA, I’ve found using the Doubles will-pays from the favorite in the previous race will give a mostly-accurate prediction of the closing odds in the next race. At home, I have a simple spreadsheet set up on the laptop (formerly used Excel, but now using Google Docs)--enter the will pays in 1st column, the spreadsheet performs a couple of addition and a couple of division functions, and then lists the win odds in the 3rd column.

Since moving to Tacoma I’ve started spending time at the EMD simo, and want to find an iphone app that will let me perform the above on the phone. There seem be a slew of spreadsheet apps available; if this is the ONLY operation for which I’ll be using the spreadsheet, can somebody recommend an appropriate choice?...don’t need a spreadsheet that performs elaborate functions--just interested in ease of use and relative readability for 60+ year old eyes.

[Cholly]

I ended up downloading the “Numbers” app from Apple. The price (free) was right, and I couldn’t see anything in write-ups about other competing apps that convinced me I should spend money for them, although they were all very reasonably priced ($4-$6).

I won’t say it was a seamless experience. Downloading the app was a breeze, but I floundered around for over an hour trying to get off the ground. In addition to the mechanics of working with something so tiny, I didn’t find working with this app to be totally intuitive from my experience with Excell & Google Docs.

But just before I threw the cell phone against the wall, I remembered the old adage “when all else fails, read the directions”; found a written tutorial on Apple’s web site, and managed to muddle through entering the formulas needed to perform the task described in my previous post. I went to the simo Saturday, whipped out the iphone, and was able to enter the will-pay doubles into the tiny spreadsheet and get a read on the probable final odds. So “Numbers” is doing what I needed. The tiny-ness is a challenge, and I still need to improve some things (only want the odds probability in two decimals, not 20), but it’s working.

btw, “Numbers” will also do about a million other things other than what I’m using.