Dan Bricklin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dan Bricklin
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| Born | July 16, 1951 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (SB) Harvard University (MBA) |
| Known for | VisiCalc wikiCalc |
Daniel Singer Bricklin (born July 16, 1951) is an American inventor and businessman. He is best known as the co-creator of VisiCalc, which was the very first spreadsheet program for personal computers. He worked on VisiCalc with Bob Frankston. Many people call him "the father of the Spreadsheet" because of this important invention.
Dan Bricklin also started his own company called Software Garden, Inc., where he is still the president. He also helped start another company called Trellix. Today, he works as the chief technology officer for Alpha Software. In 1982, Time magazine named "the Computer" as its "Machine of the Year," and Dan Bricklin was one of six people highlighted for their contributions. He also wrote a book called Bricklin on Technology, which came out in 2009.
Contents
Dan Bricklin's Early Life and School
Dan Bricklin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He went to Akiba Hebrew Academy for school. When he started college, he first studied mathematics. However, he soon changed his focus to computer science.
In 1973, he earned a degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After graduating from MIT, Bricklin worked at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). He was part of a team that worked on a program called WPS-8. Later, in 1976, he worked for a company that made cash registers called FasFax.
Studying at Harvard and Inventing VisiCalc
In 1977, Dan Bricklin decided to go back to school. He earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Harvard University in 1979. While he was a student at Harvard Business School, he had an idea that changed personal computing forever.
In 1979, he co-developed VisiCalc. This program became the first electronic spreadsheet that people could easily use at home and in offices. VisiCalc ran on the Apple II computer. It was a very advanced program for its time.
VisiCalc is famous for helping the personal computer industry grow very quickly. Before VisiCalc, people had to do financial calculations by hand. If they changed one number, they had to recalculate everything. VisiCalc made this much easier. Users could change any number in the sheet, and the program would automatically update all the other numbers. This amazing tool could turn 20 hours of work into just 15 minutes! It also helped people be more creative with their financial planning.
Dan Bricklin's Career Journey
After creating VisiCalc, Dan Bricklin continued to innovate in the software world. He founded several companies and developed new tools.
Starting Software Arts
In 1979, Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston started a company called Software Arts, Inc. They began selling VisiCalc through another company called VisiCorp. Soon, they created versions of VisiCalc for other computers. These included the Tandy TRS-80, Commodore PET, and the Atari 800. VisiCalc quickly became a very popular program, selling for about $100.
Software Arts also released other software programs. These included TK/Solver and Spotlight, which was a desktop organizer for the IBM Personal Computer.
In 1981, Dan Bricklin received the Grace Murray Hopper Award for his work on VisiCalc. At that time, it was not possible to get a patent for software inventions. This meant he could not patent VisiCalc. Dan Bricklin was the chairman of Software Arts until 1985. That year, Software Arts was bought by Lotus. After this, he left and started his next company, Software Garden.
Founding Software Garden
Dan Bricklin started Software Garden in 1985. This company was a small consulting firm that also developed software. Its main goal was to create and sell "Dan Bricklin's Demo Program." This program allowed users to create demonstrations of their software before they even wrote the actual code. It was also used to make tutorials for programs that ran on Windows. Other versions, like demo-it!, were released later.
He was the president of Software Garden until 1990. Then, he co-founded Slate Corporation. In 1992, he became the vice president of Slate Corporation, which was based in Phoenix. There, he helped develop At Hand, which was a spreadsheet program designed for pen-based computers. When Slate closed in 1994, Bricklin returned to Software Garden.
In November 1994, he released his "Dan Bricklin's Overall Viewer." The New York Times described it as a visual way to show information in Windows-based software.
Working with Trellix Corporation
In 1995, Dan Bricklin founded Trellix Corporation. The company was named after its main product, Trellix Site Builder. This tool helped people create websites.
In 2003, Trellix was bought by Interland, which is now known as Web.com. Dan Bricklin then became Interland's chief technology officer. He held this position until early 2004.
Dan Bricklin's Current Work
Dan Bricklin continues to be the president of Software Garden. This small company develops and sells software tools that he creates. He also gives speeches and offers consulting services.
He has developed Note Taker HD. This is an application for the Apple iPad tablet that lets users integrate handwritten notes.
He is also working on wikiCalc. This is a basic spreadsheet program that runs on the internet and allows people to work together on it.
Currently, Dan Bricklin is the chief technology officer at Alpha Software. This company is located in Burlington, Massachusetts. Alpha Software creates tools that make it easy to develop mobile business applications that work on many different types of devices.
Awards and Recognition
Dan Bricklin has received many awards for his important contributions to computing.
- In 1981, he was given the Grace Murray Hopper Award for VisiCalc.
- In 1996, the IEEE Computer Society honored him with the Computer Entrepreneur Award. This was for his pioneering work in developing and selling the spreadsheet. This invention brought big changes to businesses and industries.
- In 2003, he received the Wharton Infosys Business Transformation Award. This award recognized him as a leader in technology change. He was honored for using information technology in a way that transformed an entire industry. He also received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Newbury College. That same year, he became a member of the National Academy of Engineering.
- In 2004, he was made a Fellow of the Computer History Museum. This was "for advancing the utility of personal computers by developing the VisiCalc electronic spreadsheet."
Dan Bricklin has also appeared in documentaries. He was in Triumph of the Nerds (1996) and Aardvark'd: 12 Weeks with Geeks (2005). In both films, he talked about how VisiCalc was developed. He also introduced the terms "friend-to-friend networking" and "cornucopia of the commons" around the year 2000.
See also
In Spanish: Dan Bricklin para niños
