Name: Meet the inventor of the electronic spreadsheet
Uploaded: 2017-01-11T15:52:50Z
Duration: 11 min 50 s
Description: Dan Bricklin changed the world forever when he codeveloped VisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheet and grandfather of programs you probably use every day like Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. Join the software engineer and computing legend as he explores the tangled web of first jobs, daydreams and homework problems that led to his transformational invention.

Dan Bricklin changed the world forever when he codeveloped VisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheet and grandfather of programs you probably use every day like Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. Join the software engineer and computing legend as he explores the tangled web of first jobs, daydreams and homework problems that led to his transformational invention.

Meet the inventor of the electronic spreadsheet

The electronic spreadsheet transformed business by turning tedious, error-prone calculations into instant updates at the touch of a key. Inspired by the frustration of manual homework and a daydream in a crowded Harvard classroom, the creator built VisiCalc from scratch, despite limited resources and early setbacks. When it launched in 1979 on the Apple II, it was so revolutionary that even The New York Times called it a 'religious rite.' The spreadsheet's grid design remains the standard nearly forty years later.

A Simple Spreadsheet Ignited The Personal Computing Revolution

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Dan Bricklin: Meet the inventor of the electronic spreadsheet