Editing VisiCalc (section)

=== Killer app ===
Rosen was correct. For the first 12 months VisiCalc was only available for Apple II, and became its [[killer app]].{{r|budge19800708}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Harford |first=Tim |title=How computing's first 'killer app' changed everything |date=May 22, 2019 |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47802280 |access-date=May 22, 2019 |archive-date=May 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522101910/https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47802280 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Nintendo's Leap into the Unknown |page=15 |issue=23 |magazine=[[Next Generation (magazine)|Next Generation]] |publisher=[[Imagine Media]] |date=November 1996}}</ref> [[John Markoff]] wrote that the computer was sold as a "VisiCalc accessory";<ref name="markoff19820705">{{cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MjAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA36 |title=Radio Shack: set apart from the rest of the field |work=InfoWorld |date=July 5, 1982 |access-date=February 10, 2015 |author=Markoff, John |pages=36 |archive-date=October 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019070622/https://books.google.com/books?id=MjAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA36 |url-status=live }}</ref> many bought {{US$|2000|1979|long=no|round=-2}} Apple computers to run the $100 software<ref name="mcmullen19840221">{{cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UCIvSU6Y2GAC&pg=PA120 |title=Apple Charts The Course For IBM |work=PC Magazine |date=February 21, 1984 |access-date=October 24, 2013 |author1=McMullen, Barbara E. |author2=John F. |name-list-style=amp |pages=122 |archive-date=October 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019070622/https://books.google.com/books?id=UCIvSU6Y2GAC&pg=PA120 |url-status=live }}</ref> — more than 25% of those sold in 1979 were reportedly for VisiCalc{{r|brandel19990802}} — even if they already owned other computers.<ref name="barry19811005">{{cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JT0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA30 |title=SuperCalc Spread-Sheet Simulator from Sorcim Corp. |work=InfoWorld |date=October 5, 1981 |access-date=January 1, 2015 |author=Barry, Tim |pages=30 |archive-date=October 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019070622/https://books.google.com/books?id=JT0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=RA1-PA30 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Steve Wozniak]] said that small businesses, not the hobbyists he and [[Steve Jobs]] had expected, purchased 90% of Apple IIs.<ref name="byte198501">{{cite news |url= https://archive.org/details/BYTE_Vol_10-01_1985-01_Through_The_Hourglass/page/n167 |title=The Apple Story / Part 2: More History and the Apple III |work=BYTE |date=January 1985 |access-date=October 26, 2013 |author1=Williams, Gregg |author2=Moore, Rob |pages=166 |type=interview}}</ref> Apple's rival [[Tandy Corporation]] used VisiCalc on Apple IIs at their headquarters.<ref name="reed">{{cite web |url=http://www.trs-80.org/visicalc/ |title=VisiCalc |publisher=TRS-80.org |access-date=January 23, 2015 |author=Reed, Matthew |archive-date=January 28, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128132939/http://www.trs-80.org/visicalc/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Other software supports its [[Data Interchange Format]] (DIF) to share data.{{r|aw1984}} One example is the [[Microsoft BASIC]] interpreter supplied with most microcomputers that ran VisiCalc. This allowed skilled BASIC programmers to write features, such as trigonometric functions, that VisiCalc lacked.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

Bricklin and Frankston originally intended to fit the program into 16k memory, but they later realized that the program needed at least 32k. Even 32k is too small to support some features that the creators wanted to include, such as a split screen for text and graphics. However, Apple eventually began shipping all Apple IIs with 48k memory following a drop in RAM prices, enabling the developers to include more features. The initial release supported tape cassette storage, but that was quickly dropped.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

At VisiCalc's release, Personal Software promised to port the program to other computers, starting with those with the [[MOS Technology 6502]] microprocessor,{{r|InfoWorld Jun 1979}} and versions appeared for [[Atari 8-bit computers]] and [[Commodore PET]]. Both of those were easy, because those computers have the same [[CPU]] as Apple II, and large portions of code were reused. The PET version, which contains two separate [[executable]]s for 40 and 80-column models, was widely criticized for having a very small amount of worksheet space due to the developers' inclusion of their own custom DOS, which uses a large amount of memory.<ref>https://museum.syssrc.com/artifact/800/</ref> The PET only has 32k versus Apple II's available 48k.

Other ports followed for [[Apple III]], the [[Zilog Z80]]-based Tandy [[TRS-80 Model I]], [[TRS-80 Model II|Model II]], [[TRS-80 Model III|Model III]], [[TRS-80 Model 4|Model 4]], and [[Sony SMC-70]]. The TRS-80 Model I and Sony SMC-70 ports are the only versions of VisiCalc without [[copy protection]]. The HP 125 and Sony SMC-70 ports are the only [[CP/M]] version. Most versions are disk-based, but the PET VisiCalc came with a [[dongle|ROM chip]] that the user must install in one of the motherboard's expansion ROM sockets. The most important port is for the [[IBM PC]], and VisiCalc became one of the first commercial packages available when the IBM PC shipped in 1981.{{r|reed}} It quickly became a best-seller on this platform, though severely limited to be compatible with the versions for the 8-bit platforms. It is estimated that 300,000 copies were sold on the PC, bringing total sales to about 1 million copies.<ref name="langdell19850806">{{cite news |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zvLd5Aw2T3YC&pg=PA33 |title=VisiCalc Production Ends |work=PC Magazine |date=August 6, 1985 |access-date=October 28, 2013 |author=Langdell, James |pages=33 |archive-date=October 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019070622/https://books.google.com/books?id=zvLd5Aw2T3YC&pg=PA33 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Personal Software renamed itself VisiCorp in 1982.{{r|rumelt2003}} By that year, VisiCalc's price had risen from $100 to {{US$|250|1982|long=no|round=-1}}.<ref name="tommervik198203">{{cite news |url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1982&pub=6&id=4 |title=What Price Software? / Part 2 of The Great Arcade/Computer Controversy |work=Softline |date=March 1982 |access-date=July 15, 2014 |author=Tommervik, Allan |pages=10 |archive-date=July 17, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140717083435/http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1982&pub=6&id=4 |url-status=live }}</ref> Several competitors appeared in the market, such as [[SuperCalc]]{{r|barry19811005}} and [[Multiplan]],{{r|caruso19840402}} each of which have more features and corrected deficiencies in VisiCalc, but could not overcome its market dominance.