Before Excel there was VisiCalc: An interview with its creators

Believe it or not, there was a time when our computers were incapable of functioning like a calculator, a time before Microsoft Excel.
Enter Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston, two men who wanted to see their calculators come to life. By creating VisiCalc, the first electronic spreadsheet, that's exactly what they did.
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[@draxelchang5411]

What a revolutionary idea. Absolute genius.

[@excelisfun]

Awesome! Thanks for the original epiphany and implementation of VisiCalc Bricklin and Frankston!!!!!

[@user-vc6uk1eu8l]

I'm always fascinated with the pioneers in any technology! You have paved the path to the whole new industry! Great job, gentlemen!!

[@xxxxxxxyyyyyyy]

*The interface looks flawless! :)*

[@brucesmith9144]

These guys are absolutely brilliant. By today’s standards, VisiCalc looks primitive, but their idea has been carried forward and amplified.

[@AnandaSim]

Fabulous getting to see my heroes

[@benny9588]

they made history

[@williamogilvie6909]

I enjoyed hearing their story in 1983 at a Boston Computer Society meeting. Mitch Kapor was there as well; to announce the launch of Lotus 123. If I remember correctly, these two talented people created Mother's spreadsheet as well.

[@grahamnichols1416]

Visicalc and Wordstar were THE killer apps of that era.

[@re-do31]

Muy interesante el video, el Excel o sea la hoja de calculo es una herramienta que uso cada día en mi trabajo ....

[@frebrea]

It is a great oportunity to Thanks them for the marvelous software and what that meant in those years. I used it a lot and was a great help, it solved me many problems and save a lot of work hours. Thank you very much!

[@MySpreadsheetLab]

I was young but I remember those days. My dad took me to a law office and I saw this massive computer. We begged him for a computer after that.

[@scality4309]

Visicalc and wordstar, running on CP/M.

[@mauricetanquary2431]

Opens 40 year old magazine
Still has postcard in it

[@HaiLeQuang]

These guys single handedly create the finance industry.

[@HarryHillMason]

One of the creators looked so much like Hyde from That 70's Show when he was young ...

[@laletemanolete]

And then LibreOffice Calc entered the grid.

[@Uns_Maps_8]

Before Excel there was Lotus 1,2,3 and maybe Quattro Pro

[@Turrican]

These guys are 😎

[@CaptainReedo40]

So did they sell VisiCalc to Apple? Was there a liquidity event? Respectfully, the professors at HBS didn’t advise these guys to maybe monetize the software by partnering with a hardware manufacturer to scale up?

[@lolkthnxbai]

No, these guys made millions since it was ported to multiple platforms. The software simply fell out of favor to better software, IBM's lotus 123 and the company went insolvent.

[@hanniffydinn6019]

So why in the fuck did lotus and excel corner the market ? Should've visacalc be a verb now???????????

[@AntonioLemos66]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@InfiniteUniverse88]

How much money did they make off of this?

[@lucalone]

as far as I know: nothing!
you could patent computer programs since 1983!!!

[@wasabiajaponica5564]

These kinda guys aren't in it for the money

[@InfiniteUniverse88]

Copyrights are better than patents because they last 30 years longer.

[@daffyduk77]

Unfortunately, Bob's voice is muffled, a mike problem ? Dan's crystal clear

[@FUKYFILM]

They could be billionares ... But they are not

[@stephanesonneville]

They sold more than one million copies at $100...

[@art163]

And decades later he still wears the same shirt and bluejeans. cool =) // i remember my first time with SynCalc in Atari 800 XL miss the beeps of the 1050 reading the disk...

[@werre2]

it's like a calculator on your computer

[@ebb2421]

why didn't they become billionaires and then all the look and feel clones that followed

[@edsonarantes7500]

evolution of excel: Muliplan - VisiCalc - Symphony - Lotus 123 - Excel

[@harryhenrygebel3506]

The order is wrong, VisiCalc came out three years before Multiplan, and Symphony came out after 1-2-3. It should be VisiCalc - Multiplan - 1-2-3 - Symphony - Excel.