VisiCalc was the first spreadsheet program and fully functional computer application for personal computers. It was created in 1979 by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston for the Apple II computer, demonstrating the usefulness of personal computers for small businesses. VisiCalc had all the typical features of modern spreadsheet software and a graphical user interface. It debuted in May 1979 and sold more than 12,000 copies each month. It was eventually supplanted by more powerful versions like SuperCalc and Microsoft Excel. The original software was purchased by Lotus Development Corporation and used as the basis for their popular spreadsheet, Lotus 1-2-3.
VisiCalc, short for “Visible Calculator”, was the first spreadsheet program and the first fully functional computer application to run on personal computers. The program was created for the Apple II computer in 1979 by Harvard Business graduate student Dan Bricklin and his partner, Bob Frankston. VisiCalc was instrumental in demonstrating that personal computers could be a useful tool for small businesses. VisiCalc remains known as the “killer” application for the Apple II because it made people want to go out and buy the Apple II computer.
Prior to the VisiCalc invention, computers could only run a few games and BASIC, a computer programming language. Originally called Calculedger, the VisiCalc spreadsheet software was a cross between a calculator and ledger, capable of calculating financial projections and complex “what if” scenarios, using mathematical relationships between numbers. The idea came to Bricklin in the spring of 1978 while daydreaming in classes. He and Frankston set to work on the program, building it over a weekend on a borrowed Apple II computer from friend, Dan Fylstra, whose software company they would partner with to market their new product.
VisiCalc was a fourth generation software program that ran on a 32-byte Apple II computer. It contained all the features typical of modern spreadsheet software and also included a graphical user interface that incorporated “what you see is what you get” or WYSIWYG design. It used a menu system based on slashes, @functions, and was limited in size to 63 columns and 254 rows.
The software could format numbers as integers, decimals, scientific notations, or graphs, and contained built-in number-only functions called SUM, MAX, AVERAGE, and LOOKUP, as well as common trigonometric and logarithmic functions. Additional features included state and formula labeling and range copying with absolute or relative references.
Bricklin’s spreadsheet application debuted at the West Coast Computer Fair in San Francisco in May 1979, generating considerable excitement. Computer VisiCalc went on sale to the public five months later in October. Initially priced at $100 US dollars, it topped bestseller lists and sold more than 12,000 copies each month. Bricklin and Frankston eventually scaled their spreadsheet application to the Tandy TRS-80, Commodore PET, and Atari 800 platforms.
VisiCalc was eventually supplanted by more powerful versions, such as SuperCalc in 1980 and Microsoft Excel in 1983. The original software, which was never patented by its creators, was purchased by Lotus Development Corporation and used as the basis for their popular spreadsheet. calculation, Lotus 1-2-3. Today Dan Bricklin continues to maintain a modified but working copy of the program on his website. It is available free as a free 27 kilobyte download.
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