The Evolution ofThe Spreadsheet

The spreadsheet is a modern tool, but its roots are deeply entwined with the history of humaninnovation. Learn the spreadsheet’s origin story — and find out what the future may bring.

In the beginning...

It all started with a need for calculation. Before Arabic numerals, people used symbolic numerals.

These were pretty, but crummy at computational math.

Invented in ancient times, improved computation.

But no one could show their work — which is bad for business.

THE ABACUS

1400s

Invention of printing enables the spread of Arabic numerals and the concept of place value in arithmetic to Europe.

1494Franciscan monk and mathematician Luca Pacioli introduces double-entry bookkeeping to the world of business.

Double-entry bookkeeping spreads throughout the world via the Venetian merchants who adopt it.

1622Around

1800sWilliam Oughtred invents the slide rule.

Blackboard slates are adopted widely in U.S. schools.

1885

William Seward Burroughs files for his first patent on a calculating machine.

1914

Calculators are in wide use among commercial

businesses.

1969

Sharp launches the popular battery-powered calculator, the QT-8D.

1972Hewlett Packard introduces the HP-35, the first advanced-function, pocket-sized calculator. It’s an instant sensation.

units projectedfirst-year sales

10,000units actual

first-year sales

THE DESKTOP COMPUTER ERA

Initially, spreadsheets were all about e�ciency of computation.

1979VisiCalc is released as the first spreadsheet program for a computer. 1983

Lotus 1-2-3 is introduced.1987Excel and Quattro Pro are introduced. 1990s

Spreadsheets become more user-friendly.

People begin using them to manage work beyond computational e�ciency.

1990s

CLOUD CAPABILITIESDRAMATICALLY IMPROVE

ISPs greatly expand bandwidth capabilities, enabling cloud computing apps to o�er business-ready speed and e�ciency.

1999

Salesforce.com is a key pioneer of delivering enterprise applications via a website - known as cloud computing.

2000

Amazon Web Services o�ers a suite of cloud-based services, including:

Storage Human intelligence through Amazon Mechanical Turk

Computation

SPREADSHEETS DOMINATETHE WORKPLACE

2013

Many businesses turn to Google

Apps to provide additional

spreadsheets with much-needed

collaboration capabilities.

Also

60% of spreadsheets have no formulas — meaning spreadsheets are used to manage much more than just computational work

500 MILLIONpeople worldwide were using Microsoft O�ce alone.

94% market penetration rate of Microsoft O�ce suite

CHARTING THE FUTURE

Tomorrow’s spreadsheets must satisfy

Managing tasks,not just numbers

Organizing everything in one place

Using familiar,intuitive tools

Collaboratingin the cloud

BUSINESS EMBRACESTHE CLOUD

So spreadsheets are still overwhelmingly used to manage work, and cloud-based collaboration is firmly entrenched across enterprises.

Yet the biggest spreadsheet providers continueto add features focused on data analysis

The spreadsheet is here to stay. The only question is …

Who will make the best one?

3+1=4

100,000

2010

8%of businesses report no plans to use cloud-based applications

49%say they’re either heavily using cloud apps or running at least some applications in the cloud

43%are developing or beginning to implement cloud projects

THE RISE OFACCOUNTING

MATH SPREADSTO THE MASSES

DAWN OF AUTOMATEDCALCULATION

MMXIVMCIIXIV

Sources:Gleeson-White, Jane. Double Entry: How the Merchants of Venice Shaped the Modern World. W. W. Norton & Company, 2012.http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blcalculator.htmhttp://americanhistory.si.edu/teachingmath/html/release.htmhttp://www.thecalculatorsite.com/articles/units/history-of-the-calculator.phphttp://books.google.com/books?id=Gj4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA22#v=onepage&q&f=falsehttp://www.utdallas.edu/~liebowit/book/sheets/sheet.htmlhttp://www.dailytech.com/Office+2010+to+Launch+Today+Microsoft+Owns+94+Percent+of+the+Market/article18360.htmhttp://www.computerweekly.com/feature/A-history-of-cloud-computinghttp://www.enterpriseappstoday.com/management-software/can-google-apps-unseat-microsoft-in-the-enterprise.htmlhttp://www.rightscale.com/news_events/press_releases/2013/rightscale-2013-state-of-the-cloud-survey-reveals-a-cloud-value-imperative.phphttp://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-things/10-best-new-features-in-excel-2013/#.

Try the spreadsheet application of the future now at www.smartsheet.com/future