Tablefy turns boring data into interactive charts
Are you a stats junkie? If you're like me and could make comparison charts all day long you should check out Tablefy, a simple service that lets you quickly put together large and complex tables of data. You can compare whatever you want, and there's already a handful of user-created data tables like superhero stats, sports car specifications, and even a well-done chart of several popular blogging tools going head-to-head.
The tool is set up just like any old spreadsheet, except that you can predefine any row by what you're planning to put in it. You can drop in text and numbers or insert media like a YouTube video or hosted photo. In the chart embedded below I managed to throw in two videos with just a copy and paste. You can also increase your fill-out speed using simple keyboard shortcuts that let you skip ahead either by row or column. Some of the auto-formatting is especially well done. For example, writing yes or no automatically turns the cell green or red respectively. Trying to do that in Google Spreadsheets can be a pain unless you've got a template set up or take the time to format the cells.
What makes the tool really neat is that you can grab any bit of data from another chart and add it to your "comparison basket." It will automatically link up any related data like height, weight, age, etc., and put it in the right row across all the tables you've added. This lets you come up with crazy combinations. For example, I compared the XBox 360 to Iron Man (both awesome). More beneficial creations include a presidential nominee comparison, popular water filters going sink-to-sink, and a listing of poisonous plants to avoid.
Chart creators can also declare a winner between each column of data. Likewise anyone who reads that chart can agree or disagree through the comments or with a simple radio button.
Tablefy reminds me a lot of data comparison and tracking service Swivel. The big difference between the two being Tablefy's focus on just charts, whereas Swivel branches out into scatter plots, bar graphs, and pie charts. Swivel also has a huge head start on user- and service-generated data. For use in things like term papers or business reports, users are likely to see Swivel if only for this richer mass of searchable data.
To see an introductory video of Tablefy, hit the break below.
go to the table!
Tablefy's Features from Tablefy on Vimeo.
Josh Lowensohn is an associate editor for Webware.com, CNET's blog about cool and otherwise useful Web applications and services. If you've found a site you'd like profiled, shoot him an e-mail. E-mail Josh.
