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Reprinted from PC Magazine, issue 8/1985, pp. 33. VisiCalc Production Ends CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – VisiCalc, the granddaddy of spreadsheets, is dead at the age of six. Lotus Development Corp. says it will no longer produce the pioneer spreadsheet VisiCalc, one of the assets acquired in Lotus’s takeover of Software Arts earlier this year. “We feel 1-2-3 and Symphony are much better products, so VisiCalc is no longer necessary,” says a Lotus spokesperson. Lotus says it will provide users of the spreadsheet with support for the next 2 years. During that time, replacement copies of the copy-protected program will remain available. Customers with IBM-compatible versions of VisiCalc can trade in that program for a copy of Lotus’s 1-2-3. Upgrade kits can be purchased for $250 from dealers only from August 1 through October 31. Lotus is making no upgrade offer to VisiCalc users with non-IBM versions. Only authorized Lotus dealers can exchange VisiCalc packages for credit toward Lotus products. VisiCalc was created in 1979 by Dan Bricklin and Robert Frankston, founders of Software Arts. VisiCorp marketed the program under an exclusive agreement until 1984, when lawsuits between the two companies were resolved and Software Arts began selling VisiCalc under its own name. About 1 million copies of the spreadsheet were sold during its product lifetime, including 300,000 IBM-compatible versions, according to informal estimates supplied by Lotus. In addition, Lotus announced its plans for some other programs acquired from Software Arts. Spotlight will be offered as a Lotus package, but the company is trying to arrange for another company to manufacture and market TK!Solver. Lotus said it also acquired rights to unnamed software that Software Arts had been developing at the time of the takeover. | |
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