VisiCalc


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Related to VisiCalc: spreadsheet, Multiplan, Lotus 123

VisiCalc

The first electronic spreadsheet. It was introduced in 1978 for the Apple II. Conceived by Dan Bricklin, a Harvard student, and programmed by a friend, Bob Frankston, it became a major success. It launched an industry and was almost entirely responsible for the Apple II being used in business. Thousands of $3,000 Apples were bought to run the $150 VisiCalc.

VisiCalc was a command-driven program that was followed by SuperCalc, MultiPlan, Lotus 1-2-3 and a host of others, each improving the user interface. Spreadsheets have also been implemented on minis and mainframes, and it all started with VisiCalc.
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"When I was designing VisiCalc, people kept saying, 'you can do better,' and it really helped."
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Taylor, The Power OF: VisiCalc (1981) (advising how to properly use the VisiCalc system and providing practice exercises on the system).
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* Tools/Technologies used: Spreadsheet programs VisiCalc and Lotus 1-2-3; electronic calculators; copiers; printers; and word processing software.
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One of the things people always ask me [is] 'what we've got right now is just fine; VisiCalc runs fast enough.
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See www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0wUcCInJ2o.) I used Apple Writer for word processing and VisiCalc to calculate student grades.
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It was called VisiCalc. However, it was not until the introduction of the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet system that the use and importance of spreadsheet programs began to be recognized and appreciated.
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"We were in the right place at the time," Wozniak said in his Chico speech While the Apple II was a leap forward and introduced color and pixels to the computer, Wozniak says Visicalc, which he calls the first "killer app," increased demand for the Apple II.
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