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The First Killer App: VisiCalc

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the before-excel-before-lotus dept.

Sabah Arif writes "The first electronic spreadsheet, VisiCalc, helped transform the Apple II from a home computer into a business computer. Without VisiCalc, it is possible IBM would not have introduced the IBM PC in 1981. Read about the software at VisiCalc's creator Dan Bricklin's site and a brief history at Braeburn."

7 of 224 comments (clear)

  1. Surprisingly by Carthag · · Score: 4, Funny

    it turns out VisiCalc looked more like a giant chick than a lizard.

  2. Given the demographics of users back then ... by cpu_fusion · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't think I'm going out on a limb here when I say the first killer app was probably pr0n.

    Even if it was 20 character wide, uppercase ASCII, downloaded on a 110 baud accoustic-coupled modem and printed to a teletype machine hooked up to a CDC mainframe.

    That was probably the point where someone said, "holy crap, this computer thing is gonna take off!"

  3. Re:Right on! by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 5, Funny
    ...one of the first programs I bought for my Apple ][+ back in 1982

    Why didn't you just download the torrent?

  4. news.. by b100dian · · Score: 5, Funny

    Slashdot. News for teens. Stuff that mattered.

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  5. Re:What? by mog007 · · Score: 3, Funny

    What about solitare?

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  6. first text processing and now spreadsheet by lonedroid · · Score: 3, Funny

    Today on /. I learned that text processing already existed 20 years ago (on the thread about Masachussetts choosing an open file format) and now... Now I learn that MS didn't invent the spreadsheet concept either !?

  7. Re:What? by hairyfeet · · Score: 3, Funny
    Please don't remind me.Oh the pain that those evil things were.And stretching and skrinkage weren't the only worries.I gave up learning about computers for nearly ten years because of those things

    I had just spent ten hours writing and saving an accounting program for my dad and another six writing a cool four player pong style game before going to bed.Saved and logged everything on tape.Next day i fire up the Vic20(God,I'm old!) and nothing- zip.I pop the tape in the tape deck to check it and hear--"Karma Chameleon".My sis pops in and says-" I found this tape by your computer and it was full of noise so i recorded something good on it for you".Too bad killing ones sister is illegal.:-0

    I got back in when the came out with cdrw back in 98.Thank God for the guy that invented write once cds!Finally sister proof tech!

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