How have electronic spreadsheets evolved?
Spreadsheets were introduced in 1979 by VisiCorp. They originally had limited functionality but have evolved over the years to become an integral part of businesses and homes, capable of calculating in seconds what would take hours by hand.HistoryAccording to the University of Texas, the first spreadsheet software was VisiCalc for the Apple II personal computer.TypesThe longest-standing spreadsheet application is Microsoft Excel, released in 1985 for the Mac. Since then, Apple has released Numbers, and free versions such as Google Docs and OpenOffice Calc have become available.FeaturesSpreadsheets used to have a limit to the number of rows and columns that could be easily reached, but with modern programs this limit is much larger, allowing large amounts of data to be entered.BenefitsThe first spreadsheets had only a few commands and functions. Over the years, the processing power of computers has made it possible to solve complex calculations, and spreadsheets have therefore become mu
