The app that invented workplace misery? I thought this page was supposed to be fun?
We’re pretty sure workplace misery predates digital spreadsheets, and Microsoft didn’t invent those anyway. That dubious honour goes to the creators of VisiCalc, which debuted on the Apple II six years before Excel; it was the first app to automate complex spreadsheet calculations via a magical grid of cells packed with data. Excel only became a glimmer in Microsoft’s eye after its own Multiplan failed and Lotus 1-2-3 had risen to dominate the PC market.
OK, fine. The app that amplified workplace misery on the PC, then. Still not fun!
And still not accurate. Excel was first released on Mac, after a handbrake turn initiated by Bill Gates during development. Not a bad plan, because when the app arrived on Windows in 1987, Microsoft’s OS was barely on the map – to the point that a copy was included in the Excel box. So Mac Excel gave the app a solid rep; the Windows version then primed it for scale. When Lotus missed the Windows boat and Excel proved to be a more efficient number-cruncher than its rivals, Microsoft took over the spreadsheet world.
You still seem to be having trouble with this fun thing. Excel. Is. Not. Fun.
Well, it was nearly called Mr Spreadsheet, until a marketing agency said no. (They also nixed the sinister ‘Master Plan’ – probably for the best.) As for fun, that depends. Excel has been used for jaw-dropping digital art (Tatsuo Horiuchi), poems (Brian Bilston) and esports competitions for hardcore geeks. AC/DC even embedded Rock’n’Roll Train and its video (in ASCII) inside a spreadsheet. So Excel officially rocks – perhaps be similarly creative next time you start getting bored with it. Just not when your boss is watching.
