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."

Would they...

[Jailbrekr]

Would they have ever written it, knowing that, in the end, a paper clip would be used to teach people how to use a spreadsheet.....

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:jEdit beats the pants off it

[King of the Trolls]

and it only takes 2Gb RAM to run it in sluggish mode.

Ah ...

[Sonic McTails]

Hmm, a program from 1975 is still better then Execl 2004

You mean..

[dj245]

You mean to tell me that solitare was not the first killer app?

Re:too bad they didn't GPL it

[black mariah]

Yeah, just like how vi and Emacs are more widely used than that evil piece of software, Notepad.

Oh, wait... nevermind.

Microsoft patent application

[lothar97]

In other news, Microsoft announced today that they have filed a patent application for a "spread-sheet," as evidenced by Excel 2003. They claim that the earlier art is irrelevant, as the test is whether people associate "spread-sheet" with Microsoft's current intellectual property. This stems from Microsoft's original "0s and 1s" patent, ripped off here from a story from The Onion [funehumor.com].

Re:what about the NEXT killer app?

[awful]

"Visiclac kicked off ebusiness, email gave us instant global communications, mobile phones let us do that on the move, whats next?"

Rocketpacks with streaming audio obviously...

Re:First Programming gig...

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, if you'll recall, that was back in the era of the Cold War. So, obviously, the sheet spread you.

Re:You mean..

[PCM2]

The second killer app was clearly the hotkey you could press in games that would instantly switch over to a simulated VisiCalc spreadsheet when the boss walked by your workstation.

why don't one of you PERL gurus show us...

[Anonymous Coward]

...one of your "fully-funtional spreadsheet in 2 lines of PERL" tricks?

Surely you can duplicate VisiCalc with 1 or 2 lines, right? ;)