June 9th, 2006
Dan Bricklin to Release Updated WikiCalc
By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews
As noted in an earlier post, Google has released an online spreadsheet. As I indicated in that post, the spreadsheet was pioneered by VisiCalc which was first released by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston. Unfortunately, they did not pursue a patent, and riches instead went to later programs such as Excel and Lotus 1-2-3.
Even so, Bricklin will always be known as Mr. Spreadsheet, for better or worse. Which is why many people are watching closely as he updates the concept for the Web’s new era.
Bricklin’s new project is a collaborative spreadsheet program wikiCalc. He released a rough “alpha” version last fall and is now wrapping up a “beta” test version. Source: ABC News
We Say: Opportune timing, what with Google’s online spreadsheet going live this week. As a former developer on a spreadsheet we definitely owe a lot to Bricklin. A collaborative spreadsheet would be great, as I’ve tried to use shared workbooks on Excel, with little real success.
Adrian says:
“A collaborative spreadsheet would be great, as I’ve tried to use shared workbooks on Excel, with little real success.”
Typical generic Microsoft bashing statement. Lets be honest, all Wiki’s suck, yes all of them. The WYSIWYG editors corrupt the plug-ins, the Templates don’t work right and are confusing, the plug-ins are half-*ssed, and the only way of editing is to use the Edit link.. which then forces the novice user to have to shift through tons of confusing Wiki code just to find the text they want to edit. Stick to Excel, Lotus, etc.. nothing will ever come close. I hope pro-Microsoft comments aren’t filtered here.
June 10th, 2006 at 4:30 pm
Michael Santo says:
Adrian, I don’t know where you get the idea I’m a Microsoft basher. If you read my posts on this site, you will see I am neither pro nor con Microsoft. I am fair, and I think most of our readers would agree. However, I HAVE tried to use their shared workbooks feature, and it doesn’t work, or at least not. A simple Google search will show I’m not the only one who has trouble with Excel’s shared workbooks. I used such a search to try to find the answer for my problems.
My comment is meant to indicate I would LOVE a collaborative spreadsheet that works. Whether it’s Excel OR ANYTHING. Just one that works.
Additionally, as someone who worked on a spreadsheet, included memory management and recomputation engine, for 10 years, I think I’m qualified to comment on spreadsheets.
June 10th, 2006 at 4:56 pm
Adrian Santo says:
Holy patoots!
June 11th, 2006 at 9:00 am