1979 The PC Era_Visicalc

Dan bricklin, a graduate student, was tired of all the erasing and recalculating required for financial analysis. He knew that there had to be a better way and that the new microcomputer might be just the tool he needed. He conceived of an electronic spreadsheet, essentially a computerized version of the timeless accountant's green, ruled ledger pad. He approached Bob Frankston with the idea, and Frankston agreed it could be done on the microcomputer then available. The two developed by Dan Flstra, another student from the rostn area.

When introduced for the Apple II in 1979, VisiCalc (for Visible Calculator) caused a sensation. Until then, business people did not use microcomputers because they were still too complicated to program and use. But VisiCalc made microcomputers into a valuable tool for anyone doing finacial calculations. Users could enter labels, numbers, and formulas. To make a change, they just entered a new number in place of an old one. They did not have to continually erase and recalsulate all the other numbers affected by this change; VisiCalc did that for them automatically.

The introduction of VisiCalc is usually credited with making the Apple II the fastest selling computer of its time and with making the microcomputer acceptable in business offices. In 1985, Software Arts, the company Bricklin and Frankston had founded, was bought by Lotus Development Corporation, and the last copy of VisiCalc was shipped. In the si years of its life, it had sold more than 750,000 copies.