The last stop of Tang Huan's trip to the East Coast was to return to Harvard University to give a speech. It has to be said that students are the group that are most willing to accept new things. The concept of personal computers has been widely recognized by them, which can be seen from various questions.

During the speech event, Tang Huan discovered that a person's questioning content was the most professional. After asking, he learned that he was greatly affected by his rebirth. He was the developer of the world's first spreadsheet software and the father of spreadsheets, Dan Bricklin.

Obviously, Bricklin is completely miserable now, and the title of Father of Spreadsheets is owned by Tang Huan.

In its original history, in 1977, Bricklin, a year after leaving DEC, was admitted to Harvard Business School to pursue a master's degree in business administration.

During school, Bricklin's tutors often assign some extracurricular homework - mechanically repeating documents, accounts and statistics forms, which are not only fun, but also prone to errors if you are not careful.

Bricklin, who can play computers, planned to hand over these repetitive tasks to school mini-computers, but he found that different financial problems require different calculation methods and often require reprogramming. Bricklin, who hates repetitive labor, therefore had the idea of ​​writing a general program.

In early 1978, Bricklin, who had just learned BASIC, decided to start his own programming. This time he wanted to start this work from a microcomputer. The popular microcomputers at that time were mainly Kmodo's PET, Dondy's TRS-80, and Apple's APPLE-II. Since their hardware architectures are not compatible with each other, the initial platform selection is very important.

Finally, Bricklin chose APPLE-II. It was not that the APPLE-II performance was so good at that time. It was just that the hard-working Bricklin could only borrow one APPLE-II at that time.

After the microcomputer was obtained, Bricklin's program preparation work officially began. Because it was developed using the BASIC language, the software execution speed was so slow that it could make coffee during the calculation period, but no matter what, this program has initially possessed the basic characteristics of a spreadsheet.

In order not to waste good creativity and his limited ability alone, Bricklin found a friend Frankston to cooperate with him.

In early 1979, the two set up a small company called SoftwareArts (SA) and began to work together to improve the programs in Bricklin's hands.

In order to improve the practicality of the software, it must improve its computing speed, so it can only be rewrited in assembly language. The two divided their work and worked hard for more than two months, and finally launched their first commercial software.

This software is named "VisiCalc", "Visible" is "visible", and "Calculate" is "calculation". The two words are cut off and then superimposed, becoming the so-called "VisiCalc", which means "visible calculation".

Soon, Bricklin's small software was attracted by a company called Personal Software (Personal Software, referred to as PS). The two parties quickly signed a contract and entrusted all the sales of VisiCalc to PS company.

At that time, the boss of the PS company was named Festra. He only graduated from Harvard Business School for a year or two and made a living by selling chess programs used in microcomputers.

At that time, the software sales channel was to deal directly with hardware manufacturers like Microsoft. The special agent sales method had no similar precedents to follow, and there were no ready-made related money-making rules. Therefore, after obtaining the sales license of VisiCalc, Festral consulted many Harvard case analysis books in order to find similar businesses.

As a result, he found that the most similar example he could find was book publishing: the author was responsible for conceiving and completing works, and the publisher was responsible for production, channels, marketing and sales.

The transfer to the software industry is legally processed, which means that SA companies under Bricklin and Frankston are responsible for developing VisiCalc and subsequent versions, while Festra’s PS company is responsible for copying floppy disks, printing manuals, advertising and selling products to dealers and users. This has created a new model for the cooperation between development and market sales, and has become the initial successful example of an independent software developer, namely ISV.

As for the sharing, the two parties agreed as follows: SA obtains 37.5% of VisiCalc's retail sales and 50% of the wholesale sales. As the software becomes more and more popular in the market, this proportion becomes the fuse for conflicts between the two companies in the future.

In October 1979, VisiCalc was officially launched into the commercial market, selling for US$100.

At the beginning, VisiCalc did not cause much response, but because it was developed for Apple II, Apple happily accepted this gadget, so Apple II and VisiCalc began to be favored by people. In less than a year, it became the first best-selling application software in personal computer history.

In the era when VisiCalc was selling well, the concept of software patents had not yet appeared in the United States. Software companies successively launched their own spreadsheet software, such as SuperCalc in 1980, Multiplan in 1982, Lotus 1-2-3 in 1983, Apple Works in 1984, and Excel in 1985. During this period, VisiCalc not only did not withstand the pressure of competition, but also caused internal strife due to the issue of interest distribution, and gradually faded out of the market.

At the beginning of the speech, Bricklin was stunned when he saw the powerful and mature functions displayed by CGrid on Apple computers.

He never expected that he and his friends had worked so hard for so long that they finally developed the program, but found that the same product had been released in Silicon Valley on the West Coast. Compared with other people's products, his program was weaker. Like toys, Bricklin could only describe his mood as crying but not tears.

But soon, Bricklin was driven by dissatisfaction and curiosity, and he kept asking Tang Huan and exploring the various backgrounds of CGrid.

Tang Huan was a little amused about this. Could it be that someone found out that he had robbed his golden rice bowl and came to collect debts?

"The questions you asked are very targeted. Could it be that you have developed such programs?" Tang Huan tentatively.

Bricklin didn't hide it, "Yes, I made an Apple version with my friend, but compared to CGrid, our program is not competitive."

Looking at Bricklin's bitter expression, Tang Huan couldn't help but feel compassion, "In this way, you have a lot of experience in the application of spreadsheets. You might as well join my technical team. Zerone is very eager to be talented."

Bricklin thought for a moment, and finally shook his head firmly, "I feel that my creativity and design are relatively mature, so I am really unwilling to give up. Since there is no chance on Apple phone, I will try it on another platform."

Damn, this little brother has not been recruited successfully, and he will become another competitor in the near future. Tang Huan sighed silently and secretly sighed that he was really going to be attacked from both sides.

Well, since you are not afraid of bankruptcy and loss, just come here.

...

Zhuang Menghua adapted to the Harvard University environment very quickly. After Tang Huan asked in detail, he felt relieved and set off directly back to Los Angeles on the west coast.

Through the relationship of an Apple director, Tang Huan got the Madonna matter with just one phone call. This future money-making queen is about to start her journey as a superstar, and the American celebrities are about to suffer. It is a great pleasure to think about it.

The mansion in Beverly Hills, Deng Lijun, who looks a little plump, is smiling at some souvenirs brought back from the East Coast. The servants serve them very thoughtfully. From the perspective of material conditions alone, she has already lived a life of a young lady with a rich and frugal life.

Seeing that Deng Lijun looked good, Tang Huan was also happy. Thinking of her going to college, she asked.

"I've started taking classes at UCLA, majoring in English, Japanese, biology, mathematics, and other courses."

Deng Lijun said enthusiastically, while bringing an album and handing it to Tang Huan, "This is a photo I took on campus."

Tang Huan looked at it and Deng Lijun's smile in the photo was very sweet. It seemed that she was in good spirits.

"Are you adapting to university courses?" Tang Huan asked casually.

"What class should I look for?" Deng Lijun showed a shy look on her face. "Mathematics must be difficult, but when I was in Japanese class, I pretended not to understand anything. As a result, when the teacher asked questions, I answered them correctly. The teacher was so surprised that he praised me as a genius."

Tang Huan was amused and laughed, "You are almost going to be a mother, and you are still so naughty."

Deng Lijun showed a happy expression on her face and glanced at Tang Huan, "It is precisely because of this that we must maintain a happy mood."

Tang Huan looked at the Rolex watch sent by Deng Lijun on his wrist, "I have to leave if I want to catch the flight time. The headhunting company sent me a batch of information, and I have to screen out the available talents."

"I'll give it to you." Deng Lijun nodded, "By the way, I'll buy you a gift. Before leaving, I'll go to the garage to take a look."

"Go to the garage to see the gifts, why didn't you buy me a car?" Tang Huan guessed.

"You'll know if you go and take a look." Deng Lijun said coquettishly.

Tang Huan came to the garage and saw that, sure enough, Deng Lijun really prepared a luxury car for herself. The Mercedes-Benz 450SEL6.9, which was launched in May 1975, is the top model in this series. Because it is the first in the world to be equipped with ABS anti-lock braking system, it is also reliable to ensure safety while enjoying the fast speed.

After walking around the car, Tang Huan exclaimed, "I will drive this car when I come to Los Angeles in the future, but my wife, you will lose money now."

Deng Lijun pursed her lips and smiled, "It's not a question. I heard from the company that my record is still selling well, and there is also a record of "Small Town Story" to be recorded, so this expense is no problem."

Tang Huan nodded and gave a thumbs up, "You are so popular."
Chapter completed!