[Ads-l] Antedating of "Spreadsheet" (Electronic)

[Shapiro, Fred]

Those who have read my article "Confessions of the Antedater" know that the game of tiddlywinks has played a crucial role in my life, and is responsible for my antedating-mania.  My first partner on the MIT tiddlywinks team, in 1970, was a guy named Dan Bricklin.  Dan was not particularly great at tiddlywinks, but in later life he invented VisiCalc, which was the first "killer app" propelling the rise of the personal computer industry.

spreadsheet (electronic) (OED 1982)

1981 _Los Angeles Times_ 17 Feb. III5/1 (Newspapers.com)

VisiCalc III ... expands the effective workspace of your monitor screen, because the Apple III's four cursor control keys allow rapid diaplay of any portion of a large spread sheet.

Fred Shapiro


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