Spreadsheets - the TRUE history of fully interactive spreadsheets & JIT "A full five to six yea <a href="http://en.wikipedia The birthplace of first very powerful early shared public spreadsheet in 1974 3 years before APPLE II launch (1977) 7 years before IBM PC launch (Aug 1981) i.e. Spreadsheets were not an 'invention' in 1979, as fully interactive spreadsheets were already in use in 1974 sex Copy of 1974 Manual PAGE 1 (of 8)
the true history of spreadsheets, six years before visicalc on a mainframe
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Spreadsheets - the TRUE history of fully interactive spreadsheets & JIT "A full five to six years before Bricklin and Visicalc"
The birthplace of first very powerful early shared public spreadsheet in 19743 years before APPLE II launch (1977)
7 years before IBM PC launch (Aug 1981)
i.e. Spreadsheets were not an 'invention' in 1979, as fully interactive spreadsheets were already in use in 1974 on mainframes.
sexCopy of 1974 Manual PAGE 1 (of 8)
..."No computer experience or knowledge is needed to do this. An Application System can
be built and modified on-line, by the user on his own VDU terminal remote from the main
computer without involving computer staff at all"...
WRS Terminologyone or more functionally complete Input/Output displays Application
Visual display unit (IBM/3270 Model 2, 24 lines x 80 bytes)VDU
one of more lines of formulaeFunction group
a unique "named cell" (literally a "Direct Input Record")"DIR" - all named cells were 'global' and accessible from any other spreadsheet
The user "view" of the dataINPUT/OUTPUT Displays (i.e. a single sheet that could incorporate data from anywhere in the system -just as with Remote data in on-line spreadsheets like "Editgrid" today)
printed view of the data - designed by users online (WYSIWYG) and REPORT
not necessarily the same as on a "spreadsheet"/input/output view.
Column or row headingTITLE
Component part of a "named" data value (eg Kilogram,Tank level,Stock)CHARACTERISTIC
"A full five to six years before Bricklin and Visicalc" DAVID JOHNSTON
WRS performance Factsaverage downstream bytes to update one cell on remote 3270 workstation
average number of bytes upstream when single cell is changed
approximate # machine instructions to execute - for example, A=B+C*(D/E)
approximate size of object code snippet ('binary') for above example
approximate floating point instructions/ second on (an earlier generation) 360
exact number of bytes needed to store a single F/P data cell on BDAM file
# formula required to store, for example, >46 years of historic monthly data
# machine instructions to stack >46 years of historic monthly data (MVCL)
# instructions required to validate numeric input from 3270
# additional instructions required for dynamic v. compiled Fortran algorithm
additional overhead retrieving data from another application (remote data)
Authors comments (& rant)It was common practice in the 1960's/70's for companies to compete on IT fronts as well as normal commercial lines. If a corporation had talented in-house IT staff, that company could compete better than the ones who either couldn't afford the best or who didn't search for the best (just as in design, production & marketing). Somewhere along the way the majority of company executives 'lost their way' and the current awful state of IT is a direct result of this neglect and over zealous sales of 'off the shelf' solutions. Company intelligence is more valuable than mere assets - it is the very stuff of competiteveness. ICI never shared with others the advantages they gained through intelligent IT Systems and became, as a result, for a very long time, true leaders in their field. Competitiveness creates excellence and advances civilization. One-product Operating Systems and all embracing application Office suites create stagnation and encourage viruses & bugs. If it were not so we would not be where we are today - having to put up with poor quality software.
It was common practice in the 1960's/70's for companies to compete on IT fronts as well as normal commercial lines. If a corporation had talented in-house IT staff, that company could compete better than the ones who either couldn't afford the best or who didn't search for the best (just as in design, production & marketing). Somewhere along the way the majority of company executives 'lost their way' and the current awful state of IT is a direct result of this neglect and over zealous sales of 'off the shelf' solutions. Company intelligence is more valuable than mere assets - it is the very stuff of competiteveness. ICI never shared with others the advantages they gained through intelligent IT Systems and became, as a result, for a very long time, true leaders in their field. Competitiveness creates excellence and advances civilization. One-product Operating Systems and all embracing application Office suites create stagnation and encourage viruses & bugs. If it were not so we would not be where we are today - having to put up with poor quality software.
(Similar to Dynamic programming algorithmic technique http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Algorithms/Chapter_6
utilizing "memoization" but also - significantly - in conjunction with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memoization" target="_blank">Memoization</a>
average downstream bytes to update one cell on remote 3270 workstation 16 bytes uncompressed
average number of bytes upstream when single cell is changed 14 bytes uncompressed
approximate # machine instructions to execute - for example, A=B+C*(D/E) 5 including fetch & save
approximate size of object code snippet ('binary') for above example 24 bytes 4 bytes per F/P machine instruction (F/P = floating point)
approximate floating point instructions/ second on (an earlier generation) 360 330,000 <a href="http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/360/A22_6825-1_360instrTiming.pdf" target="_blank">IBM System/360 timings</a>
exact number of bytes needed to store a single F/P data cell on BDAM file 8
# formula required to store, for example, >46 years of historic monthly data 0 builtin
# machine instructions to stack >46 years of historic monthly data (MVCL) 1 one MVCL instr.
# instructions required to validate numeric input from 3270 0 hardware feature
# additional instructions required for dynamic v. compiled Fortran algorithm < 0 more optimized than compiled Fortran
additional overhead retrieving data from another application (remote data) 0 exactly same cost as local
It was common practice in the 1960's/70's for companies to compete on IT fronts as well as normal commercial lines. If a corporation had talented in-house IT staff, that company could compete better than the ones who either couldn't afford the best or who didn't search for the best (just as in design, production & marketing). Somewhere along the way the majority of company executives 'lost their way' and the current awful state of IT is a direct result of this neglect and over zealous sales of 'off the shelf' solutions. Company intelligence is more valuable than mere assets - it is the very stuff of competiteveness. ICI never shared with others the advantages they gained through intelligent IT Systems and became, as a result, for a very long time, true leaders in their field. Competitiveness creates excellence and advances civilization. One-product Operating Systems and all embracing application Office suites create stagnation and encourage viruses & bugs. If it were not so we would not be where we are today - having to put up with poor quality software.
It was common practice in the 1960's/70's for companies to compete on IT fronts as well as normal commercial lines. If a corporation had talented in-house IT staff, that company could compete better than the ones who either couldn't afford the best or who didn't search for the best (just as in design, production & marketing). Somewhere along the way the majority of company executives 'lost their way' and the current awful state of IT is a direct result of this neglect and over zealous sales of 'off the shelf' solutions. Company intelligence is more valuable than mere assets - it is the very stuff of competiteveness. ICI never shared with others the advantages they gained through intelligent IT Systems and became, as a result, for a very long time, true leaders in their field. Competitiveness creates excellence and advances civilization. One-product Operating Systems and all embracing application Office suites create stagnation and encourage viruses & bugs. If it were not so we would not be where we are today - having to put up with poor quality software.
100% IBM Z/390 compatible, (no requirement to re-compile)
(dynamic Memoization & self optimizing fast paths)
(suggestive of wholy independant & later "re-invention" by Bricklin)
it was created 6 years before the IBM PC, and between 3 and 6 years before Apple II
Limited to defined field attributes, text/numerics, (later 7 colors & reverse video, condtl. formatting)
(hardware limitation, graphic devices were not generally available in 1974)
by ICI, to Commodore PET 2001 in 1977 - calculator burnt to ROM chip <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_PET" target="_blank">Commodore Pet</a>
including fetch & save
4 bytes per F/P machine instruction (F/P = floating point)
<a href="http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ibm/360/A22_6825-1_360instrTiming.pdf" target="_blank">IBM System/360 timings</a>no timing data avail for IBM/370 or later upward compatible hardware