In 1983 softline readers named visicalc tenth overall and the highest nongame on the magazines top thirty list of atari 8bit programs by popularity. This segment will address in a little more detail three programs that have been particularly influential in the apple ii world. Putting pcs to workas pc users became more numerous and diverse, entrepreneurs vied to meet and create demand for new and varied applications. Item ht 376 apple ii software visicalc, spreadsheet, 5.
Visicalc for visible calculator was the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for the apple ii by visicorp. Visicalc sold over 700,000 copies in six years, and as many as 1 million copies over its history. It had to work with apple iie software and apple iic software. Visicalc was the first socalled killer app many businesses bought the apple ii computer for the sole purpose of running visicalc. By 1980, the apple ii software market had fairly well established itself. The apple iiis failure led apple to reevaluate its plan to phase out the apple ii, prompting the eventual continuation of development of the older machine. Visicalc advanced version is a special edition of visicalc with, as the name implies, advanced features. Unfollow apple iie software to stop getting updates on your ebay feed. Visicalc was eventually sold to lotus development corporation and was the basis for the development of the lotus 123 spreadsheet application in 1983. Many customers bought an apple specifically to run visicalc.
It was a fast computer because they used tv interface instead of teletype terminal. It was published through personal software, who due to the success of visicalc, changed their name to visicorp. This version of the program is very similar to the original visicalc that first came out on the apple ii in 1979. It is unusual for apple to release exciting and revolutionary software. The bbs is running on a real apple iie with a doudisk. History of computers and computing, birth of the modern computer, software. Software on the apple ii the command line interface menus graphic user interfaces apples greatest hits visicalc apple writer notes will someone please tell me what an apple can do. Software arts assets were eventually sold to lotus, which unsurprisingly stopped development of visicalc. Visicalc would only be available for the much more expensive 32 kb apple ii. First we wanted to preserve the apple ii as it exists today. Entrepreneurs dan bricklin and bob frankston incorporate their company software arts to publish a little program called visicalc. Visicalcs release was one of two extremely important events to secure.
Apples rival tandy corporation used visicalc on its own apple iis. Visicalc, a 1979 spreadsheet program by software arts, was the killer app that spurred apple ii sales. Eventually, visicorp sued software arts when the company delayed development of visicalc for the ibm pc so they could first finish a version for the apple iie and iii. Jan 02, 2020 no program like visicalc existed before. Years ago a family member used an apple iie which is still functional including 5. The apple ii stylized as apple is an 8bit home computer and one of the worlds first highly successful massproduced microcomputer products, designed primarily by steve wozniak steve jobs oversaw the development of the apple iis foammolded plastic case and. Contents will someone please tell me what an apple can do. Jun 10, 2012 a look at the original electronic spreadsheet visicalc for the apple ii. It was then ported to a wide variety of platforms including the apple iii, trs80 series, sony smc70, hp, commodore, and atari computers. It is often considered the application that turned the.
It was written in the apple basic language on an apple 2 computer. The apple ii also had good games, so there was another reason to buy it. Roms apple ii apple ii applications planet emulation. Why a simple spreadsheet spread like wildfire opinion. Dan bricklin, inventor of the electronic spreadsheet low. It is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a serious business tool, prompting ibm to introduce the ibm pc two years later.
Dan bricklin, inventor of the electronic spreadsheet lem staff 2006. The software library contains software disk images that can be downloaded and used to recreate the floppy disks using diskmaker 8 or any other utility which supports the compressed format. Visicalc made business forecasting much simpler, allowing individuals to ask what if questions about numerical data and get the sort of immediate response that was not even possible for giant corporations using mainframe computer systems. The primary purpose of any library is to preserve cultural relics and this software library is no different. Ii computing listed it second on the magazines list of top apple ii software as of late 1985, based on sales and marketshare data. And nothing makes it easier to keep track around the office, and around the house, than an apple personal computer. Dan bricklin born 1951 codeveloped visicalc with bob frankston in the late 1970s while he was a student at the harvard business school. It has a very interesting command structure as every rowcolumn. The introduction of computers with dualfloppy disk drives made this process childs playoften literally, since games were. Visicalc was the first spreadsheet computer program, originally released for the apple ii. The apple iie the most personal computer 1983 the apple iie succeeded the apple ii plus in 1983. Several new elements were though added to the design.
But we recognized that the apple ii was an old computer. That meant the apple ii version wasnt a toneddown, inferior version of existing software, like the console ports of arcade games used to be. It has material directly from dan bricklin and bob frankston, the cocreators of visicalc, including scans of original photographs from visicalcs development days, a working copy of the program, and other things from software arts, inc. Unable to fit in the base machines 16 kilobyte memory, it required the costlier 32 kilobyte model. Visicalc was the first really super spreadsheet program for desktop platforms. The apple i was one of the easiest computers created at that time. Visicalc is widely credited for fueling the rapid growth of personal computers in business. A major part of the answer to the question, what can i do with this computer. Ive been experimenting with visicalc on the apple iie and franklin ace500. He negotiated with dan fylstra about the possibility of apple purchasing from personal software all rights to visicalc thus locking up the market in apple s favor. Apple s rival tandy corporation used visicalc on its own apple iis. Should the library of congress be compiling a list of the most influential software of all time, just as it does annually for the national film. Apple ii, apple e, c, iigs, iic plus, and apple programming and productivity software on 5.
Software library the primary purpose of any library is to preserve cultural relics and this software library is no different. You can also get a femu card which can be used with an apple iic as well as apple iie and iigs. It was one of the first commercial packages available when the ibm pc shipped in 1981. As a result, later apple ii models incorporated some hardware, such as the thermal apple scribe printer, and software technologies of the apple iii. The better your financial records, the better your chance of getting every tax deduction thats coming to you. Nov 10, 2017 ive been experimenting with visicalc on the apple iie and franklin ace500.
It is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a serious business tool, and is considered the apple iis killer app. Using downloaded software the ultimate apple ii resource. Although developed by software arts, visicalc was sold by personal software later visicorp, a company founded in 1976 by dan fylstra and peter jennings. Visicalc was the first spreadsheet software program developed by dan bricklin and programmed by bob frankston in 1978. The iie ram was configured as if it were a 48 kb apple ii plus with a language card. This is a very rare item visicalc was probably the single biggest reason the apple ii took off and revolutionize the microcomputer world. Visicalc for the apple ii was so successful that versions for other computers were inevitable. Jan 03, 2016 a 1983 advert for visicalc, which was launched on the apple ii. Manual is clean and comes in the original 3ring binder. Visicalc electronic worksheet, later known as a spreadsheet.
The initial targets were the commodore pet, the atari 800, and the trs80 model i. It is not unusual for apple to release exciting and revolutionary hardware. The apple ii excited and enticed many people whod never thought about buying a computer. The apple ii stylized as apple is an 8bit home computer and one of the worlds first highly successful massproduced microcomputer products, designed primarily by steve wozniak steve jobs oversaw the development of the apple iis foammolded plastic case and rod holt developed the switching power supply. On january 2, 1979, entrepreneurs dan bricklin and bob frankston incorporated software arts to publish a little program called visicalc. Visicalc s release was one of two extremely important events to secure apple s success. Bricklin implemented a primitive demo program in integer basic on an apple ii loaned to him by personal software. Mar 25, 2015 get full visibility with a solution crossplatform teams including development, devops, and dbas can use. So visicalc came and went, but the software genre it pioneered the spreadsheet endured to. The following excerpt is from an apple iie dealer advertisement document use this years refund to make next years bigger. Why a simple spreadsheet spread like wildfire opinion the. Apple iie running visicalc the following excerpt is from.
A collection of past and current apple ii ftp sites. Remember all the noise when macintosh was released this winter. However, formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study. A look at the original electronic spreadsheet visicalc for the apple ii. The final version was developed on a minicomputer and written in assembler language for its 6502 microprocessor. Visicalcs release was one of two extremely important events to secure apples success. Get full visibility with a solution crossplatform teams including development, devops, and dbas can use. Apple iie running visicalc the following excerpt is from a. Without so much as a single press conference, apple has released a new integrated package that no apple iie owner should be without. Solarwinds recently acquired vividcortex, a top saasdelivered solution for cloud andor onpremises environments, supporting postgresql, mongodb, amazon aurora, redis, and mysql. Visicalcs prototype was written in the apple iis integer basic language. One of the most important features to a customer considering any computer is, what.
They created a new software called the visicalc which made the apple iie very popular and sell quickly. Femu uses microsd cards instead of cf cards but the functions are similar. In the spring of 1978, a harvard business school student, dan bricklin, came up with the idea for an interactive visible calculator, the program called visicalc, which will be called later the first killer app of the computer era. A 1983 advert for visicalc, which was launched on the apple ii. Apple ii, apple and apple programming and productivity. This allowed skilled basic programmers to add features, such as trigonometric functions, that.