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VisiCalc Turns 25, Creators Interviewed
Xaroth writes "It's hard to believe that it's already been 25 years since the release of one of the world's first 'killer apps.' 1979 saw the creation of VisiCalc, the first microcomputer-based spreadsheet and the single application that launched widespread computer use among businesses.
To remember this event, PC World has published portions of interviews with the three co-creators of the modern spreadsheet: Dan Bricklin, Bob Frankston, and Dan Fylstra. Alternately, check out the Software History website for more information on this and other historical bits."
Since there were only slightly more than two million Apple II's ever made, it's pretty unlikely then "several million copies" of any software title were ever sold for it. Don't just make stuff up.
What's the difference between what you describe and the idea of Lotus Improv?
Improv was a truly innovative system, which I think represents a logical method of fast data handling.
Also, could jEdit have been developed if VisiCalc and Improv had not come before it?
ah, mod points
Not to be a flaimbait or anything, but I think that your completely wrong about Visicalc. Computers aren't designed to mimic things from the real world. Many good programs don't. The spreadsheet is productive, very. In fact, it doesn't mimic paper+calc+pencil for doing banking, it superceeds it.
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Why would you expect it to work when its a DOS program? I thought WINE only re-implemented win32 calls..
Even if it did, there are plenty of dos emulation tools out there... that are FULLY functional.
( not slamming the WINE people, they just arent finished yet.. )
---- Booth was a patriot ----
The spreadsheet only has no real-life corollary because Visicalc made doing it by hand completely and utterly obsolete. Writing a letter isn't really sped up a whole lot by using a computer (as compared to writing it by hand, or on a typewriter). Spreadsheets are a whole different story. They were done by hand at one point, but changing some numbers and carrying forward all the calculations used to be a full time job for some people. Now it's 10 seconds with Excel. Think on that for a bit. :)
I agree with you, but we're both probably spreadsheet experts. Have you ever seen a user with only basic training, and a limited understanding of math? They know certain things are possible (because they saw us do them) but to them the spreadsheet is not intuitive. To us they are. Once you grasp relative v absolute references (and cell naming) you are usually on your way to being unstoppable.
One thing that would be nice would be a sheet that had a different display for user input data and calc'd data (I have my own shorthand but wouldn't it be nice if the sheet just formatted them automatically?
My employer spend millions of dollars redesigning their database input and report forms so they would be the same as the old mainframe systems. Dumb to us, but most users were rendered helpless by something different, even if it was more efficient. Something that looks like what a user is comfortable with is sometimes more useful than a powerful, flexible, but different tool.
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Not only that, but the original designer of VisiCalc describes this very issue in the article, and how the uniqueness of the spreadsheet made it very difficult to describe to the public at large. Only through immersion in the technology can you really understand and appreciate it.
so, you forgot to preface your post with RTFA.
I don't read or respond to AC posts
Howmany people know what VisiCalc was? How many people know what excel is? I'd say they succeeded.
Like a lot of great computer scivement, VisiCalc lacked good marketing.
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Well I don't think that everyone would have a Mainframe to connect to, to run spreadsheets. Now every business large and small can easily keep records that would have been done by hand.
-- taking over the world, we are.
The GPL does nothing to prevent anybody from writing their own version not using any GPL'd code. The GPL wouldn't have stopped anything in this case.
If you reply, do so only to what I explicitly wrote. If I didn't write it, don't assume or infer it.
If that's the number of genuine Apple IIs, then multiply it by a large factor for all the clones. (And where did you get that two million figure from?)
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
...who reads the name "Software Arts" and thinks of the innocence it implies?
There once was a time when software really was art. Now, it's a steely business. Back in 1979, Bill Gates was only some weenie whining because people were pirating paper tapes of his BASIC.
Those who can, do. Those who can't, write technology blogs.
The spreadsheet has no real-life corollary
Technically, it was real-life that gave Bricklin his idea in the first place. To quote:
Bricklin has spoken of watching his university professor create a table of calculation results on a blackboard. When the professor found an error, he had to tediously erase and rewrite a number of sequential entries in the table, triggering Bricklin to think that he could replicate the process on a computer....
And THAT is why we have the standard of living that we enjoy.