A spreadsheet is a computer application for the computation, organization, analysis and storage of data in tabular form, developed as a computerized analog of the paper accounting worksheet, in which each cell of a table can hold numeric or text data or a formula that automatically calculates a value from other cells. Remy Landau and Rene Pardo, recent Harvard graduates, conceived and built LANPAR in the summer of 1969, the first electronic spreadsheet, running on mainframe and time-sharing computers; the patent office initially rejected their patent application as a purely mathematical invention, and Pardo and Landau won a landmark court case only after twelve years of appeals. VisiCalc, released in 1979, brought the electronic spreadsheet to microcomputers for the first time and became the killer application that helped drive early sales of the Apple II.
Facts
SignificanceVisiCalc, released for the Apple II in 1979, made the spreadsheet concept widely known and turned the personal computer from a hobbyist device into a business tool. 1 FAQs
What was the first electronic spreadsheet?
LANPAR, introduced by Remy Landau and Rene Pardo in 1969.
The first electronic spreadsheet was LANPAR, introduced by Remy Landau and Rene Pardo in 1969 and run on mainframe and time sharing computers. VisiCalc, developed for the Apple II in 1979, is what made the concept widely known, but it came ten years later.
Sources
1. Spreadsheet (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia FoundationBasics section, LANPAR
LANPAR, introduced by Remy Landau and Rene Pardo in 1969, was the first electronic spreadsheet on mainframe and time sharing computers.
VisiCalc for the Apple II section
The concept of spreadsheets became widely known due to VisiCalc, developed for the Apple II in 1979 by VisiCorp staff Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston.
Significantly, it also turned the personal computer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a business tool.
In Group: System and Data Management Software, Lead
A spreadsheet is a computer application for computation, organization, analysis and storage of data in tabular form.
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