VisiCalc Turns 25, Creators Interviewed 149
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."
Re:They needed databases, too... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:jEdit beats the pants off it (Score:4, Insightful)
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?
Re:jEdit beats the pants off it (Score:5, Insightful)
Wine ? But its a dos program (Score:3, Insightful)
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.. )
Neglecting key points there... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:jEdit beats the pants off it (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:jEdit beats the pants off it (Score:5, Insightful)
so, you forgot to preface your post with RTFA.
Re:VisiCalc vs. Microsoft Multiplan (Score:3, Insightful)
Like a lot of great computer scivement, VisiCalc lacked good marketing.
Re:Some Special on TV (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:too bad they didn't GPL it (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:They needed databases, too... (Score:2, Insightful)
Am I the only one... (Score:3, Insightful)
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.
Re:jEdit beats the pants off it (Score:4, Insightful)
Technically, it was real-life [thefreedictionary.com] 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....
Re:Some Special on TV (Score:3, Insightful)