Editing VisiCalc (section)

{{Short description|1979 computer application}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2023}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = VisiCalc 
| logo                   = Visicalc logo.svg
| logo_size              = x64px
| screenshot             = Visicalc.png
| caption                = VisiCalc spreadsheet on an Apple II
| developer              = [[Software Arts]], published by [[VisiCorp]]
| released               = {{Start date and age|1979}}
| latest release version = VisiCalc Advanced Version 
| latest release date    = {{Start date and age|1983}} 
| operating system       = [[Apple II]], [[Apple SOS]], [[Atari 8-bit]], [[CP/M]], [[Commodore PET|PET]], [[HP Series 80]], [[MS-DOS]], [[Sony SMC-70]], [[TRSDOS]]
| genre                  = [[Spreadsheet]] 
| license                = [[Commercial software|Commercial]] [[proprietary software]]
| website                = {{URL|danbricklin.com/visicalc.htm}}
}}

'''VisiCalc''' ("visible calculator")<ref name=":1">{{cite web |url= http://www.aresluna.org/attached/computerhistory/articles/spreadsheets/tenyearsofrowsandcolumns/birthingthevisiblecalculator |title= A sidebar to the article "Ten Years of Rows and Columns" published in Byte, issue 13/1989, pp. 326-328. |quote= Yeah, we called it all sorts of things – electronic ledger, electronic blackboard, visible calculator – that’s what we finally based the name, VisiCalc, on. |access-date= June 24, 2015 |archive-date= September 23, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150923173500/http://www.aresluna.org/attached/computerhistory/articles/spreadsheets/tenyearsofrowsandcolumns/birthingthevisiblecalculator |url-status= live }}</ref> is the first [[spreadsheet]] [[computer program]] for [[personal computer]]s,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Justice |first=United States Congress House Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Administration of |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l2ckdERaPukC&q=%22the+first+spreadsheet%22&pg=PA762 |title=Computers and Intellectual Property: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Administration of Justice of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, One Hundred First Congress, First and Second Sessions, November 8, 1989, and March 7, 1990 |date=1991 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |access-date=November 7, 2020 |archive-date=October 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019070622/https://books.google.com/books?id=l2ckdERaPukC&q=%22the+first+spreadsheet%22&pg=PA762 |url-status=live }}</ref> originally released for the [[Apple II]] by [[VisiCorp]] on October 17, 1979.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jennings |first=Peter R. |author-link=Peter R. Jennings |title=VisiCalc 1979 |url=http://www.benlo.com/visicalc/visicalc4.html |access-date=October 19, 2022 |website=Benlo Park |quote=The first copy of VisiCalc for the Apple ][ (Version 1.37) went out the door on October 17, 1979. |archive-date=October 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221017182455/https://www.benlo.com/visicalc/visicalc4.html |url-status=live }}</ref> It is considered the [[killer application]] for the Apple II,<ref name=":0" /> turning the [[microcomputer]] from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a serious business tool, and then prompting [[IBM]] to introduce the [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]] two years later.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hill |first=Charles |date=January 1, 2014 |title=Strategic Management: Theory & Cases: An Integrated Approach |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d0PAAgAAQBAJ&pg=SL3-PA177 |publisher=Cengage Learning |page=C-177 |isbn=9781305142725}}</ref> More than 700,000 copies were sold in six years, and up to 1 million copies over its history.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} <ref>{{Cite web |date=March 26, 2024 |title=VisiCalc of Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston Guide: History, Origin, and More |url=https://history-computer.com/technology/visicalc-of-dan-bricklin-and-bob-frankston-guide/ |access-date=May 13, 2024 |website=History Tools}}</ref>

Initially developed for the Apple II computer using a [[MOS Technology 6502|6502]] [[assembler (computing)|assembler]] running on the [[Multics]] [[time-sharing]] system,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bricklin |first1=Dan |title=Bricklin on Technology |date=April 15, 2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kLOm3jnv_rYC&pg=PA423 |isbn=9780470500583 |access-date=July 6, 2015 |archive-date=October 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019070622/https://books.google.com/books?id=kLOm3jnv_rYC&pg=PA423 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=(Image 5) SLIDESHOW: CIO Blast from the Past - 40 years of Multics |website=CIO |url=http://www.cio.com.au/slideshow/325629/slideshow-cio-blast-from-past-40-years-multics/?image=5 |location=Australia |access-date=July 6, 2015 |archive-date=June 18, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618025652/https://www.cio.com.au/slideshow/325629/slideshow-cio-blast-from-past-40-years-multics/?image=5 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Browne|first=Christopher|title=Historical Background of Spreadsheets|url=http://www.cs.umd.edu/class/spring2002/cmsc434-0101/MUIseum/applications/spreadsheethistory2.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170610201315/http://www.cs.umd.edu/class/spring2002/cmsc434-0101/MUIseum/applications/spreadsheethistory2.html|archive-date=June 10, 2017|access-date=August 8, 2021}}</ref> VisiCalc was ported to numerous [[Computing platform|platforms]], both 8-bit and some of the early 16-bit systems. To do this, the company developed porting platforms that produced [[bug compatible]] versions. The company took the same approach when the IBM PC was launched, producing a product that was essentially identical to the original 8-bit Apple II version. Sales were initially brisk, with about 300,000 copies sold.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}} 

VisiCalc uses the A1 notation in formulas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bricklin.com/history/saiidea.htm |title=The Idea |access-date=February 7, 2017 |archive-date=June 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170619194044/http://bricklin.com/history/saiidea.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>https://www.dssresources.com/history/kapor4151999.html</ref>

When [[Lotus 1-2-3]] was launched in 1983, taking full advantage of the expanded memory and screen of the IBM PC, VisiCalc sales declined so rapidly that the company was soon insolvent. In 1985, [[Lotus Development]] purchased the company<ref>{{cite news |last1=Maloney |first1=Eric |title=80 Micro, Side Tracks |page=12 |work=Microcomputer Magazine (via archive.org) |publisher=CW Communications |date=October 1985 |url= https://archive.org/details/80-microcomputing-magazine-1985-10/page/n13/mode/2up |access-date=July 17, 2020}}</ref> and ended sales of VisiCalc.<ref>{{cite magazine  |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |date=June 24, 1985  |page=20 |title=Lotus acquires Software Arts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ES8EAAAAMBAJ}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine  |magazine=Infoworld |title=VisiCalc discontinued |date=June 2, 1986 |page=8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SC8EAAAAMBAJ}}</ref>