Computing history - Visicalc

[ChrisGreaves]

I have never used Visicalc; I started with Jim Button's PCCalc and then got paid to use DOS Lotus (2.2, I think, on a 5 1/4" floppy disk at any rate)
Here is a Wikipedia article on Visicalc.

"It is considered the killer application for the Apple II,[4] turning the microcomputer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a serious business tool, and then prompting IBM to introduce the IBM PC two years later"

"InfoWorld wrote that ... it was "the first successful software product to have gone through a complete life cycle, from conception in 1978 to introduction in 1979 to peak success in 1982 to decline in 1983 to a probable death according to industry insiders in 1984""

"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[10] and ended sales of VisiCalc.[11][12]"

Cheers, Chris

Sidenote:
Lotus 1-2-3 assumes that 1900 is a leap year. This is incorrect as while 1900 is a year that is divisible by four, years divisible by 100 are not counted as leap years unless divisible by 400.[88] This bug persists today as its competitor, Microsoft Excel, still incorporates the bug to ensure compatibility with legacy Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets.[89]
I didn't know of this. C

[BobH]

I DID use Visicalc on an early IBM PC (like August or September 1981). Things we used to do on paper spreadsheets (columnar pads, they were called) soon transferred to the computer eliminating (most) mistakes from addition and subtraction and assuring that double entry bookkeeping entries balanced. We thought it was the cat's meow.

And, yes, I learned of the leap year rule decades ago and of the fallacy built into Lotus 1-2-3 wrt 1900.

Damn, I'm old!

[stuck]

...This bug persists today as its competitor, Microsoft Excel, still incorporates the bug to ensure compatibility with legacy Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheets.
I didn't know of this. C

I did and I exploited it very effectively in the Excel workbook I developed to mange our 'flexi-time' records. The ability to handle negative time, i.e. display result of 'actual hours' - 'contracted hours' as '-n', where n is a number of hours, was not possible in Excel unless you set the workbook to use the 1904 date system.

I think my colleagues appreciated this workbook more than any of the other far more sophisticated ones I developed for them that eased their actual work

Ken

[ChrisGreaves]

... eliminating (most) mistakes from addition and subtraction and assuring that double entry bookkeeping entries balanced. We thought it was the cat's meow.

I see now how and why a spreadsheet processor would have been the trick to make PCs business computers.
I've reported directly to a couple of CFOs, and man! was it ever easy to get equipment out of them.
They control the purse strings,
So if you can convince them that painting the ceilings with Lime Jelly and carpeting the office floor with shredded coconut, you get the decor changed overnight!

Financial spreadsheets would have made every CFO lick his (in those days) lips and spring for "PCs for EVERYONE!"

Cheers, Chris

[ChrisGreaves]

I think my colleagues appreciated this workbook more than any of the other far more sophisticated ones I developed for them that eased their actual work

Ken, any of those colleagues still at work today?

Turn four days off into nine: Clever tricks to double your annual leave this year

P.S. I love these images of young folks holding something the size of a smartphone over something the size of The Pacific Ocean.
Cheers, Chris

[stuck]

Ken, any of those colleagues still at work today?

As far as I know, all of my work colleagues are still where I left them, I was the 'old man' of the team. Whether they are still using my flexi-time workbook though I don't know.

Ken

[BobH]

20 days annual leave? Seriously? That's a work month! I had to work 10 years for the same company to get the 3rd week off here in the US and that was the maximum, plus 6 holidays, one of which was a flex holiday not one calendared by government.

[stuck]

20 days annual leave? Seriously?

In light of your comment, I'd better not tell you what my annual leave entitlement was.

Ken

[GeoffW]

Annual leave varies widely by country

USA isn't shown because there isn't a nationally mandated amount.

Screenshot_20240311_065146_Chrome~2.jpg

Something this doesn't mention is that, in Australia, people get paid more for annual leave than they do for working - 17.5% mandated.

I was a contractor for many years, and was only paid for the hours I worked, with no annual, sick leave or paid public holidays. The hourly rate reflected this.

We have 8-10 public holidays per year (a holidays on a Sunday is not taken as a weekday, and it depends on state). Inworked in Colombia for a while, where they have 18 public holidays, and that's not even a record. Nepal apparently has 35.

There is also maternal leave - there is a portion, I think 12 weeks, paid by the government, but at the government mandated minimum wage rather than the employee's actual wage. 2 weeks paternal leave is also given.

[ChrisGreaves]

20 days annual leave? Seriously? That's a work month!...

A month? You must be joking!
I worked on contract at the Provincial Ministry of Housing in Ontario. Twenty days work there was an entire calendar year.
Mind you, that was in the mid 1990s.
Cheers, Chris