"VisiCalc on the Apple 2" up now on the Stone Tools blog

Software
1

October 17 is Spreadsheet Day!

This time on Stone Tools I’m looking at VisiCalc on the Apple 2. I’ve spent a good deal of time with it over the past few years, and I was curious to see just how much of its DNA remains in the tools we use today.

I used it to calculate the protein levels of ration formulation for swine, lest there were any doubt that I take my work seriously. In so doing, I re-discovered an appreciation for its goals and legacy in this retrospective.

I hope you enjoy it!

What is Stone Tools?
Unlike many retro-enthusiast blogs, Stone Tools focuses exclusively on productivity software. No games; just work. I spend weeks learning the programs and write an honest, lighthearted assessment: how was it perceived at the time, what is it like to use, and does it have utility today?

3 Likes
2

This reminds me: did you know that Unix has had spreadsheet program since 1981: sc (spreadsheet calculator) - Wikipedia – originally called … “vc”.

3

No, I didn’t know about sc at all, thanks for the note.
“vc” huh? Well, well, well…

4

Ah, I think I recall ‘sc’ a spreadsheet from my Amiga days. Looking through this index of Fish disks (a progressively larger collection of public domain, shareware, and open source software for Amiga) I see:

CONTENTS OF DISK 36
===================
...
Vc		Visicalc-like spreadsheet calculator program. Author:
		James Gosling, Amiga port by Peter Hardie
...
CONTENTS OF DISK 53
===================
...
SpreadSheet	A simple "Visicalc-like" spread sheet calculator. Also
		known as "vc" but there is currently a debate about
		whether or not that name is a registered trademark. The
		version on disk number 36 was based on an earlier
		version of the same source. This release also includes
		source code. Author: James Gosling, Mark Weiser, and
		Bob Bond Amiga port by Dave Wecker
1 Like
5

Also note the author of sc… James Gosling. Has done some other stuff.

1 Like
6

Also, I’ve seen this quote (don’t know original source, sorry, looks like maybe a book): "VisiCalc came about because its inventor, Dan Bricklin, went to business school. And Bricklin went to business school because he thought that his career as a programmer was about to end: it was becoming so easy to write programs that Bricklin was convinced there would eventually be no need for programmers at all and he would be out of a job.”

2 Likes