Apple II

Apple II

Bank Street Writer on the Apple II

There was a time when society was hell-bent on getting "computers in the classroom." It was going to utterly transform learning! The drive fell short of that goal, but it did deliver us a sharp little word processor as a side effect.

spreadsheet

VisiCalc on the Apple II

In 1978, Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston took out a loan to fund development of "Calcu-ledger," the very tool that could project if taking out a loan were fiscally prudent. In 2025, VisiCalc still has the necessary precision to express the hundreds of billions in spreadsheet profits generated since.