At this point it seems fairly obvious that Google isn't planning for Google Docs to compete with Excel on features. Rather, they've figured out some ratio of power users to non-power-users (like the oft-repeated claim that 80% of the users only use 20% of the features but in Excel's case I suspect the ratio is even higher) and they've decided to implement only the basic features used by non-power-users.<p>I'm not sure why Google bothers to have a 'share an idea' forum when they have no intention of implementing the 80% features. It's bound to be a magnet for complaints when feature requests get ignored.
I suppose the real answer is to just use Excel. The last time I used Google's spreadsheet was probably about 2 to 3 years ago and there were major deficiencies then. I used the spreadsheet in Open Office/Libre Office for awhile. And then I went back to Excel. It has been refreshing.
Although I appreciate what Ted J is trying to do, I think he's missing the point. When 50 users say "we really need this feature", the answer rarely is "you don't need it, you only think you do because you've always been wrong about it".