VisiCalc

An example VisiCalc spreadsheet on an Apple II.
Developer(s)	VisiCorp
Stable release	VisiCalc Advanced Version / 1983
Operating system	Apple II, CP/M, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore PET, TRS-DOS, DOS
Type	Spreadsheet
License	Proprietary EULA
Website	www.danbricklin.com

VisiCalc was the first spreadsheet program available for personal computers. It is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a serious business tool.^[1] VisiCalc sold over 700,000 copies in six years.^[2]

Origins

Conceived by Dan Bricklin, refined by Bob Frankston, developed by their company Software Arts^[1], and distributed by Personal Software in 1979 (later named VisiCorp) for the Apple II computer, it propelled the Apple from being a hobbyist's toy to being a much-desired, useful financial tool for business^[1]. At the time, most microcomputers suffered from lack of storage space and display limitations that made them poor competitors in the word processing and database markets.^{[citation needed]} The spreadsheet, however, did not depend on powerful displays or storage media, and so was an ideal fit for microcomputer technology available at the time.^{[citation needed]} This likely motivated IBM to enter the PC market which they had been ignoring until then. After the Apple II version, VisiCalc was also released for the Atari 8-bit family, the Commodore PET, TRS-80, and the IBM PC^[1].

According to Bricklin, he was watching his university professor at Harvard Business School create a financial model on a blackboard. When the professor found an error or wanted to change a parameter, he had to tediously erase and rewrite a number of sequential entries in the table, triggering Bricklin to realize that he could replicate the process on a computer using an "electronic spreadsheet" to view results of underlying formulae^[3].

Successors

Charles Babcock of InformationWeek argues that in retrospect, “VisiCalc was flawed and clunky, and couldn't do many things users wanted it to do.”^[4] Soon, more powerful clones of VisiCalc were released, including SuperCalc (1980), Microsoft's MultiPlan (1982), Lotus 1-2-3 (1983), and the spreadsheet module in AppleWorks (1984). With Microsoft Excel (introduced for the Macintosh in 1985 and for Windows 2.0 in 1987), a new generation of spreadsheets was born. Due to the lack of a patent (which until then had never been issued for a computer program), none of the developers of the VisiCalc clones had to pay any royalties to VisiCorp.

The idea was prominent enough that a spreadsheet program was shipped as C source code as a programming example of Borland's Turbo C compiler: the TurboCalc.

Reception

Antic (magazine) reviewer Joseph Kattan writes "VisiCalc isn't as easy to use as prepackaged home accounting programs, because you're required to design both the layout and the formulas used by the program. Because it is not pre-packaged, however, it's infinitely more powerful and flexible than such programs. You can use VisiCalc to balance your checkbook, keep track of credit card purchases, calculate your net worth, do your taxes - the possibilities are practically limitless."^[5]

See also

• Triumph of the Nerds, A documentary hosted by Robert X. Cringely that featured the creators of VisiCalc and their contribution as the first killer app for the personal computer.
• Timeline of computing 1950–1979

References

External links

• Dan Bricklin's Own VisiCalc Website – With history information as well as downloadable PC version
• Implementing VisiCalc – By Bob Frankston, on his website
• Three Minutes: Godfathers Of The Spreadsheet – PC World  interview with the creators of VisiCalc
• Techdirt: What If VisiCalc Had Been Patented?