VisiCalc Anniversary 2017
On January 2nd, Mitch Kapor (Lotus) tweeted that VisiCalc’s company, Software Arts, had been incorporated on that day, 38 years ago. An interesting series of tweets followed. See the tweets below, and links to related background material.
VisiCalc Anniversary Tweet
Here is the first tweet, from Mitch Kapor. He is the founder of Lotus, and certainly knows a thing or 1-2-3 about spreadsheets! He mentioned VisiCalc, and a couple of notable computer people.
Worth remembering the modern era of applications began 38 years ago with VisiCalc. As important as work by Doug Engelbart, Ted Nelson. https://t.co/JD7Vli2PhP
— Mitch Kapor (@mkapor) January 2, 2017
VisiCalc History
One of VisiCalc’s creators, Dan Bricklin, mentions the January 2, 1979 incorporation date for Software Arts on his web site’s History page.
And, of course, the first copy of VisiCalc was shipped on October 17, 1979, so that’s why Spreadsheet Day is celebrated on that date each year.
There’s more VisiCalc history on co-creator Bob Franckston’s web site.
Dan Bricklin Replied
In reply to Mitch Kapor’s tweet, Dan Bricklin graciously thanked him.
.@mkapor Thanks, Mitch! And thanks for helping the concept reach its potential when you advanced it as Lotus 1-2-3!
— Dan Bricklin (@DanB) January 3, 2017
Doug Englebart
In Kapor’s tweet, Doug Engelbart was mentioned – an Internet pioneer and inventor of the computer mouse. You can read more about him on his Doug Engelbart Institute website.
The Stanford University website has a video of the first public demonstration of the mouse. You can watch a few clips or the complete demo, which runs 100 minutes. (The full demo video is at the bottom of the page)
Spreadsheets and the Mouse
There is a spreadsheet connection to the mouse too – the zoom wheel was inspired by watching people use Excel.
Inventor Eric Michelman, who was an Excel Program Manager at Microsoft, gives a full account of the development of the scroll wheel
Ted Nelson
Mitch Kapor also mentioned Ted Nelson in his tweet – another computer pioneer. Nelson coined the terms Hypertext and Hypermedia in 1963, and was the first to use the term virtuality.
Learn more about his work on the Ted Nelson Homepage. It has links to his book, films, articles and videos. There is a Ted Nelson YouTube channel too, with many interviews and presentations.
VisiCalc Story 1984
Journalist Steven Levy replied to a related tweet from Mark Cuban, and shared a link to an article that he wrote about VisiCalc in 1984.
@mcuban If you want a good place to check out that history, here’s the piece I did for Harpers in 1984. https://t.co/Pzys7iqlne
— Steven Levy (@StevenLevy) January 2, 2017
Interview With VisiCalc Creators
In this interview from 2015, Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston talk about VisiCalc.
Video – Before Excel there was VisiCalc: An interview with its creators
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