The democratization of electronic information can truly be said to have started with the advent of the personal computer, and spreadsheets have played a central role in that process, to such an extent that Hesse and Scerno (2009) pointedly state:
History of Spreadsheets in General
The concept of a spreadsheet predates personal computers, with one of the earliest references (then as “spread sheet”) being listed in Kohler’s dictionary for accountants of 1952 (Mattessich, n.d.). Early accounting work was done by Richard Mattessich on the idea of the computerization of spreadsheets (1961, 1964). The first actual computerization of these ideas (LANPAR) was done by Rene Pardo and Remy Landau in 1969 (Pardo, 2000). However, it is commonly held that the utility of personal computers first became evident with the 1979 release of a spreadsheet program for the Apple II: VisiCalc (cf. Power, 2004), the first so-called “killer app” (Brandel, 1999; Grad, 2007; Walkenbach, 2010, p. 11). VisiCalc was developed based on Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston’s experience working with paper-based calculation problems in business school, independent of earlier computerizations (Bricklin, 2009b, 2015; Frankston, 1999; Power, 2004), so much so that Grad (2007) details how Bricklin’s prior experiences with word processing proved far more pivotal in the development of VisiCalc than actual accounting experience. Not only was a spreadsheet application the first “killer app” for personal computers, but spreadsheets could arguably be called the first area for the battle of software supremacy, even predating operating system battles. Things developed very quickly after the release of VisiCalc: SuperCalc was released in 1980, and Microsoft’s Multiplan in 1982. Multiplan’s fleeting early popularity was quickly lost to the superior Lotus 1-2-3 released in January 1983 (Campbell-Kelly, 2007, p. 15; Kapor, 2007, p. 37).