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VisiCorp
VisiCorp was an early personal computer software publisher. Its most famous products were Microchess, Visi On and VisiCalc. It was founded in 1976 by Dan Fylstra and Peter R. Jennings as Personal Software, and first published Jennings' Microchess program for the MOS Technology KIM-1 computer, and later Commodore PET, Apple II, TRS-80 and Atari 8-bit. In 1979 it released VisiCalc, which would be so successful that in 1982 the company was renamed VisiCorp Personal Software, Inc.. :* VisiCalc was the first electronic spreadsheet for personal computers, developed by Software Arts and published by VisiCorp. :* Visi On was the first GUI for the IBM PC. Bill Gates came to see Visi On at a trade show, and this seems what inspired him to create a windowed GUI for Microsoft. VisiCorp was larger than Microsoft at the time, and the two companies entered negotiations to merge, but could not agree on who would sit on the board of directors. Microsoft Windows when it was released included ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Visi On
VisiCorp Visi On was a short-lived but influential graphical user interface-based operating environment program for IBM compatible personal computers running MS-DOS. Although Visi On was never popular, as it had steep minimum system requirements for its day, it was a major influence on the later development of Microsoft Windows. History Background In the spring of 1981, Personal Software was cash-flush from the ever-increasing sales of VisiCalc, and the corporate directors sat down and planned out their future directions. Ed Esber introduced the concept of a "family" of products that could be sold together, but from a technical perspective none of their products were similar in anything but name. For instance, to use VisiPlot with VisiCalc data, the numbers to be plotted had to be exported in a "raw" format and then re-imported. Dan Fylstra led a technical discussion on what sorts of actions the user would need to be able to accomplish in order for their products to be truly in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
VisiCalc
VisiCalc (for "visible calculator") is the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for Apple II by VisiCorp on 17 October 1979. It is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a serious business tool, prompting IBM to introduce the IBM PC two years later. VisiCalc is considered to be Apple II's killer app. It sold over 700,000 copies in six years, and as many as 1 million copies over its history. Initially developed for the Apple II computer using a 6502 assembler running on the Multics time sharing system, VisiCalc was ported to numerous platforms, both 8-bit and some of the early 16-bit systems. In order to do this, the company developed porting platforms that produced bug compatible versions. The company took the same approach when the IBM PC was launched, producing a product that was essentially identical to the original 8-bit Apple II version. Sales were initially brisk, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mitch Kapor
Mitchell David Kapor ( ; born November 1, 1950) is an American entrepreneur best known for his work as an application developer in the early days of the personal computer software industry, later founding Lotus, where he was instrumental in developing the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet. He left Lotus in 1986. In 1990 with John Perry Barlow and John Gilmore, he co-founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and served as its chairman until 1994. In 2003, Kapor became the founding chair of the Mozilla Foundation, creator of the open source web browser Firefox. Kapor has been an investor in the personal computing industry, and supporter of social causes via Kapor Capital and the Kapor Center. Kapor serves on the board of SMASH, a non-profit founded by Klein to help underrepresented scholars hone their STEM knowledge while building the networks and skills for careers in tech and the sciences. Early life and education Kapor was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Fre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter R Jennings
Peter R. Jennings (born 1950) is a Canadian physicist, scientist, inventor, software developer, computer chess programmer, and entrepreneur. He is best known for creating Microchess, MicroChess, the first microcomputer game to be sold commercially in 1976. Biography Early life Jennings was born in Bedford, England, in 1950. In the 1960s his family moved to Ontario, Canada. He received an MA in physics from Stony Brook University, SUNY Stony Brook University in 1972, and an MBA in finance and marketing from McMaster University in 1974. ''Microchess'' Jennings developed ''Microchess'' shortly after leaving graduate school in New York; the code was sold on paper, so buyers had to manually enter the program using a keyboard. ''Microchess'' was the first software to sell over 10,000 copies. Later versions, on the Apple II and the TRS-80, sold millions of copies. It was also available on the Commodore PET and Atari 8-bit family, Atari 400/800 platforms. ChessMate Jennings also d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ed Esber
Edward M. Esber, Jr. (born 1952) is semi-retired in Park City, Utah. Ed spends his time helping the State of Utah, Utah Law enforcement and the Silicon Slopes entrepreneur community in Utah. Summary As a PC industry veteran, he pioneered the marketing and distribution of personal computer productivity software. Afterwards, he did seminal work on the integration of computers and multimedia; the integration of computers, toys and learning; the integration of computers, communication and telephony; the mobilization of email and internet access and personal computer mobility. He served on the boards of companies that introduced the first hard disk add on card for PCs, the first MP3 player, the first DVR and the first tablet computer. Education Esber graduated with a BS computer engineering degree from Case Institute of Technology in 1974. He later earned a MS in electrical engineering from Syracuse University while working with IBM in 1976. He then went on to earn an MBA from Ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lotus Software
Lotus Software (called Lotus Development Corporation before its acquisition by IBM) was an American software company based in Massachusetts; it was "offloaded" to India's HCL Technologies in 2018. Lotus is most commonly known for the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet application, the first feature-heavy, user-friendly, reliable and WYSIWYG-enabled product to become widely available in the early days of the IBM PC, when there was no graphical user interface. Much later, in conjunction with Ray Ozzie's Iris Associates, Lotus also released a groupware and email system, Lotus Notes. IBM purchased the company in 1995 for US$3.5 billion, primarily to acquire Lotus Notes and to establish a presence in the increasingly important client–server computing segment, which was rapidly making host-based products such as IBM's OfficeVision obsolete. On December 6, 2018, IBM announced the sale of Lotus Software/Domino to HCL for $1.8 billion. History Lotus was founded in 1982 by partners Mitch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Software Arts
Software Arts was a software company founded by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston in 1979 to develop VisiCalc, which was published by a separate company, Personal Software Inc., later named VisiCorp. Software Arts also developed TK!Solver, a numeric equation solving system originally developed by Milos Konopasek Milos Konopasek (died in Boston, Massachusetts, 9 January 2002) was a Czechoslovakia-born mechanical engineer best known as the creator of TK!Solver, an iterative, constraint-based declarative environment for the numerical solution of systems ..., and ''Spotlight'', "a desktop organizer for the I.B.M. Personal Computer." By early 1984 ''InfoWorld'' estimated that Software Arts was the world's 13th-largest microcomputer-software company, with $12 million in 1983 sales. It was bought by Lotus in 1985. References External linksSoftware Arts and VisiCalc by Dan Bricklin Defunct computer companies based in Massachusetts Software companies established in 1979 Soft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dan Fylstra
Dan Fylstra is a pioneer of the software products industry. A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in 1975 he was a founding associate editor of ''Byte'' magazine. In 1978 he co-founded Personal Software, and that year reviewed the Commodore PET 2001 and TRS-80 Model I for ''Byte'' while studying for an MBA at the Harvard Business School, having ordered each almost immediately after release. Personal Software became the distributor of a new program called VisiCalc, the first-ever computer spreadsheet. In his marketing efforts Fylstra ran teaser ads in ''Byte'' that asked, considering electronic spreadsheets were an entirely new product category, "How did you ever do without it?" The VisiCalc-Apple connection suggested the hypothesis of the "killer app"—or the "software tail that wags the hardware dog." Once VisiCalc caught on, people came into computer stores asking for VisiCalc and then also the computer (the Apple II) they would need to run the program. Visi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microchess
''Microchess'', by Peter R Jennings, Peter R. Jennings, was the first commercially successful chess program for microcomputers. Originally designed for the MOS Technology KIM-1 it was released on December 18, 1976. ''Microchess'', as small as it was in terms of program size, could still play passable chess on the KIM-1 with its MOS Technology 6502, 6502 microprocessor, 1 kilobyte of memory, simple hex keyboard, and seven-segment display. Selling it at a price of US$10, Jennings refused to sell the rights of the program to Chuck Peddle (president of MOS Technology) for $1000. It was the first software package to sell 50,000 copies. Jennings founded Personal Software to publish ''Microchess'' to the nascent microcomputer market. Money made from ''Microchess'' and other software projects allowed Jennings, together with Dan Fylstra, to launch VisiCorp company, and underwrite the development of VisiCalc, the first spreadsheet. ''Microchess'' was later expanded into a more fully fea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
InfoWorld
''InfoWorld'' (abbreviated IW) is an information technology media business. Founded in 1978, it began as a monthly magazine. In 2007, it transitioned to a web-only publication. Its parent company today is International Data Group, and its sister publications include '' Macworld'' and ''PC World''. InfoWorld is based in San Francisco, with contributors and supporting staff based across the United States. Since its founding, ''InfoWorld''s readership has largely consisted of IT and business professionals. ''InfoWorld'' focuses on how-to, analysis, and editorial content from a mixture of experienced technology journalists and working technology practitioners. The site averages 4.6 million monthly page views and 1.1 million monthly unique visitors. History The magazine was founded by Jim Warren in 1978 as ''The Intelligent Machines Journal'' (IMJ). It was sold to IDG in late 1979. On 18 February 1980, the magazine name was changed to ''InfoWorld''. In 1986, the Robert X. Cringel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is a computer application for computation, organization, analysis and storage of data in tabular form. Spreadsheets were developed as computerized analogs of paper accounting worksheets. The program operates on data entered in cells of a table. Each cell may contain either numeric or text data, or the results of formulas that automatically calculate and display a value based on the contents of other cells. The term ''spreadsheet'' may also refer to one such electronic document. Spreadsheet users can adjust any stored value and observe the effects on calculated values. This makes the spreadsheet useful for "what-if" analysis since many cases can be rapidly investigated without manual recalculation. Modern spreadsheet software can have multiple interacting sheets and can display data either as text and numerals or in graphical form. Besides performing basic arithmetic and mathematical functions, modern spreadsheets provide built-in functions for common financial a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
