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:Would they... (Score:1, Interesting)
The question is, would they have patented it?
They needed databases, too... (Score:3, Interesting)
The original author still does DB work for this company [stoneedge.com].
Small fact... (Score:5, Interesting)
jEdit beats the pants off it (Score:1, Interesting)
jEdit, through its pluggable Java architecture allows the addition of user-created plug ins. One of these is the double bookkeeping plug in.
Every accountant to whom I introduced this to (it's free as in gratis and libre) has told me how much more productive they are using this set up than using plain old spreadsheets.
Basically, the goal of computing is to mimic and make easier real-life processes. The spreadsheet has no real-life corollary, whereas Java and specifically the Object Oriented paradigm model the real world to a T.
So if we want to congratulate Visicalc for anything, let's give them a big thanks for setting computers down a dead end road for 25 years.
Some Special on TV (Score:5, Interesting)
The accountant supposedly started visibly shaking and proclaimed "Do you realize just how much time this will save me??"
I just found that bit interesting for all the people who hold onto "the good old days" and question if computers have really helped or hindered us.
In my mind I try to imagine just where we would be if we still only had large main frames. The power of the PC is truely amazing.
(sorry just got back from a workout and am high on endorphines (or whatever they are))
what about the NEXT killer app? (Score:3, Interesting)
I think that community is coming back. With the Web, blogs, e-mail, and cell phones, we're seeing a resurgence in community. Technology is now something for bringing people together.
Visiclac kicked off ebusiness, email gave us instant global communications, mobile phones let us do that on the move, whats next?
Re:Some Special on TV (Score:5, Interesting)
too bad they didn't GPL it (Score:5, Interesting)
Other Small Fact... (Score:4, Interesting)
Some time ago there was the question raised concerning ownership and transfer of patents, etc. of the spreadsheet, which everyone and his kid brother eventually made their own version of. IIRC the creators didn't feel they actually sold all rights or something to that effect (sound similar to the SCO/Linux debacle?) Anyone know what has been determined in that regard? Seems if it was still unresolved it would make SCO/Linux look like a tempest in a teapot by comparison.
First Programming gig... (Score:4, Interesting)
It was 1982, I was 13, and a guy paid me $50 to create a spreadsheet for him that would let him calculate his cost per share of some stock he was buying over multiple purchases (dollar cost averaging).
VisiCalc vs. Microsoft Multiplan (Score:2, Interesting)
Apparently, rumor was that SCO was hired to port Multiplan [google.com] (to various *nix's I would guess).
Anyway, it's interesting that one of Microsoft's first attempt to unseat a software application was targeted at Visicalc. Did they succeed?
Re:Some Special on TV (Score:2, Interesting)
Isn't revisionist history wonderful? You're obviously unaware that computerized spreadsheets were running on mainframes nearly 15 years before VisiCalc. Look here [dssresources.com], for instance. Supercomp-Twenty was a strong mainframe-based spreadsheet at about the same time as VisiCalc. To suggest progress would not have been made without the PC is specious at best.
Re:Ah ... (Score:2, Interesting)
<CS101>
If we are being educational, lets do it right. O(1) does not mean really fast. A calculation that takes 6 years could still be O(1). O(1) simply means the calculation is constant, regardless of what is input. O(n) basically means the more data (n) you give it, the longer it takes. And you can take it from there (double it, square it, take a log, whatever floats your boat). One thing to keep in mind is that the more complex you get to speed things up and get closer to an O(1), the more likely you are to take longer for the simple calculations than a basic O(n) formula. Or to put it another way, all of us that want to do a quick sum of columns of a small table would prefer not to wait 10 minutes while the kitchen sink and travelling salesman algorithms load.
</CS101>
Re:Didn't save any time (Score:3, Interesting)
It's like many other situations: You'll pay for as much information as you can get, rather than just get the same information more cheaply.
Re:VisiCalc vs. Microsoft Multiplan (Score:4, Interesting)
Nope. In fact, Microsoft kept failing at spreadsheets until long after Lotus 123 became popular. It wasn't until Microsoft was able to leverage Windows that they finally gained a foothold. Of course, that's a story in itself.
Interestingly enough, the whole Windows story has a lot to do with VisiCalc. You see, VisiCalc took all their hard earned money and put it into creating a piece of software known as VisiOn. VisiOn was the first PC GUI for DOS. Given that Graphical User Interfaces had been the domain of expensive Unix machines, this worried Microsoft a great deal. So they announced Microsoft Windows.
In typical Microsoft fashion, they really didn't have anything. But they managed to spam the media and make everyone put off purchasing VisiOn in hopes that this mystical "Windows" would be a far better investment.
The early betas of MS Windows were actually nothing more than a way of multitasking different DOS apps. By pressing certain keys, you could switch from one "Full Screen Window" to another. About that time, Apple introduced the world to a true WIMP interface. This caused Microsoft to change directions. When the first version of MS Windows was delivered, it allowed for multiple programs to run in tiled windows. One window could be maximized at any time, thus obscuring the other windows. To be blunt, this sucked.
Windows 2.0 was only slightly better, but it sucked too. Windows 3.0 finally hit the mark by delivering a full WIMP interface and a program manager. Why Microsoft thought the program manager was a good idea when the Macintosh showed otherwise, is a mystery that will forever remain unsolved.
Re:jEdit beats the pants off it (Score:5, Interesting)
And yet VisiCalc was designed to mimic a real-world operation. IIRC, industrial planners used to have large blackboards divided into grids and each square in the grid could hold a number or an equation. When a number was changed in one square, all the dependent squares had to be recalculated. Of course, the concern was that something had been missed. I believe Bricklin heard one of his professors describe this process and chose it as his model for what eventually became VisiCalc.
I think I read this in Cringely's Accidental Empires.
Lotus Improv (Score:2, Interesting)
I wonder how many other revolutionary applications Lotus developed and later buried?
Re:Ah ... (Score:2, Interesting)
And still going strong! (probably) (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:VisiCalc vs. Microsoft Multiplan (Score:3, Interesting)
No, I'm talking about the pre-release stuff that Microsoft sent to the computer mags of the time. They described how a slight change to your DOS code would make it "Windows Compatible", which basically meant that it could be suspended and replaced on the screen at any time.
As for preannouncing, my source is the book "Barbarians Led by Bill Gates", an insider's description of what happened inside Microsoft. It's really a great read. My favorite part was how the author inadvertantly insulted Bill Gates for his lousy BASIC code.
Re:Would they... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Lotus Improv (Score:3, Interesting)
As to your other question, let's see...Agenda was best-of-breed, as was was Magellan. I always liked LotusWorks better than MS Works on a DOS platform. Improv absolutely killed on the NExT, but was slow as shit on Windows. Oh, let's not forget Notes, which, when I saw it for the first time in '91, caused me to say "Well, that's the future right there."
Ami Pro, while a terrific program, wasn't developed by Lotus. They bought it from Samna around the time that 1-2-3 r2.4 and r3.5 came out. Then they bundled it with those products (and a runtime version of Windows). I was convinced that Ami Pro was the coolest word processor I'd ever seen. I think I still am.