{{ :dokumenter:visicalc.png?x200|VisiCalc}}
**VisiCalc** var det første [[regneark]]sprogram tilgængeligt for personal computers. It is often considered the application that turned the [[microcomputer]] from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a serious business tool. VisiCalc sold over 700,000 copies in six years.((''Secrets of Software Success: Management Insights from 100 Software Firms Around the World'', ISBN 1578511054 (1999)))

==Origins==
Conceived by [[Dan Bricklin]], refined by [[Bob Frankston]], developed by their company [[Software Arts]]<ref name="tomcalc">{{cite web
  | last =Hormby
  | first =Thomas
  | authorlink =
  | coauthors =
  | title =VisiCalc and the rise of the Apple II
  | work =
  | publisher =[[Low End Mac]]
  | date =2006-09-22
  | url =http://lowendmac.com/orchard/06/0922.html
  | doi =
  | accessdate =2007-03-02  }}</ref>, and distributed by [[Personal Software]] in 1979 (later named [[VisiCorp]]) for the [[Apple II family|Apple II]] computer, it propelled the Apple from being a hobbyist's toy to being a much-desired, useful financial tool for business<ref name="tomcalc"/>. At the time, most microcomputers suffered from lack of storage space and display limitations that made them poor competitors especially in the [[database]] markets.{{Citation needed|date=June 2008}} The spreadsheet, however, did not depend on powerful displays or storage media and so was an ideal fit for microcomputer technology available at the time.{{Citation needed|date=June 2008}} This likely motivated [[IBM]] to enter the PC market which they had been ignoring. After the Apple II version, VisiCalc was also released for the [[Atari 8-bit family]], the [[Commodore PET]], [[TRS-80]], and the [[IBM PC]]<ref name="tomcalc"/>.

According to Bricklin, he was watching a professor at [[Harvard Business School]] create a financial model on a blackboard. When the professor found an error or wanted to change a parameter, he had to erase and rewrite a number of sequential entries in the table. Bricklin realized that he could replicate the process on a computer using an "electronic spreadsheet" to view results of underlying formulae<ref name="joshcalc">{{cite web
  | last =Coventry
  | first =Joshua
  | authorlink =
  | coauthors =
  | title =Interview with Dan Bricklin, Inventor of the Electronic Spreadsheet
  | work =
  | publisher =[[Low End Mac]]
  | date =2006-11-02
  | url =http://lowendmac.com/coventry/06/1107.html
  | doi =
  | accessdate =2007-03-02  }}</ref>.

==Successors==
Charles Babcock of ''[[InformationWeek]]'' argues that in retrospect, "VisiCalc was flawed and clunky, and couldn't do many things users wanted it to do."<ref>[http://www.techweb.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=191901844&pgno=1 What's The Greatest Software Ever Written? - Technology News by TechWeb<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Soon, more powerful clones of VisiCalc were released, including [[SuperCalc]] (1980), [[Microsoft]]'s [[MultiPlan]] (1982), [[Lotus 1-2-3]] (1983), and the spreadsheet module in [[AppleWorks]] (1984). With [[Microsoft Excel]] (introduced for the [[Macintosh]] in 1985 and for [[Windows 2.0]] in 1987), a new generation of spreadsheets was born. 

Spreadsheets were a prominent enough idea that a spreadsheet program was shipped as [[C (programming language)|C]] source code as an example of [[Borland]]'s [[Turbo C]] compiler.

==Reception==
''[[Antic (magazine)|Antic]]'' reviewer Joseph Kattan wrote "VisiCalc isn't as easy to use as prepackaged home accounting programs, because you're required to design both the layout and the formulas used by the program. Because it is not pre-packaged, however, it's infinitely more powerful and flexible than such programs. You can use VisiCalc to balance your checkbook, keep track of credit card purchases, calculate your net worth, do your taxes - the possibilities are practically limitless."<ref name="8-Bit Product Reviews: VISICALC">[http://www.atarimagazines.com/v3n2/productreviews.html?tag= 8-Bit Product Reviews: VISICALC]</ref>

==See also==
  *[[Triumph of the Nerds]], A documentary hosted by [[Robert X. Cringely]] that featured the creators of VisiCalc and their contribution as the first [[Killer application|killer app]] for the [[personal computer]].
  *[[Timeline of computing 1950–1979]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
  *[http://www.danbricklin.com/visicalc.htm Dan Bricklin's Own VisiCalc Website] &ndash; With history information as well as downloadable PC version
  *[http://www.frankston.com/?name=ImplementingVisiCalc ''Implementing VisiCalc''] &ndash; By Bob Frankston, on his website
  *[http://www.pcworld.com/resource/printable/article/0,aid,116166,00.asp Three Minutes: Godfathers Of The Spreadsheet] &ndash; ''[[PC World (Magazine)|PC World]]''&nbsp;&nbsp;interview with the creators of VisiCalc
  *[http://techdirt.com/articles/20050812/1835229_F.shtml Techdirt: What If VisiCalc Had Been Patented?]
  *[http://www.trs-80.org/visicalc/ TRS-80 and more]