Word: visicalc
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Makers of the software for personal computers have also been suffering from slower than expected sales, ruinous competition and an excess of copycat products. Among the victims are two industry giants. VisiCorp, marketer of VisiCalc, a pioneering business program, has shelved plans to create its own software, cut its work force to 72 from a peak of 250 and sold the licensing rights for its troubled VisiOn package to Control Data. Another former pacesetter, Digital Research, has backed away from its ambitious move into the retail market and is focusing again on programs that are built into computers...
While software industry growth remains steep, development and marketing costs are climbing. One of the firms hit hardest is VisiCorp, which rose to early industry leadership as the distributor of VisiCalc, the business planning program that is still the alltime bestseller, with more than 700,000 copies sold. But VisiCalc has been surpassed by newer programs like Microsoft's Multiplan, and sales are lagging. At the same time, VisiCorp has been burdened with the development woes of its elaborate Visi On program. VisiCorp is also engaged in a messy court battle with Software Arts of Wellesley, Mass., the company...
...announced Framework, a new business program, and the company figures its introduction will cost $10 million. "The investment in marketing is ratcheting up higher and higher," says Julian Lange, president of Software Arts. "It's become difficult for two guys in an attic to launch a product like VisiCalc...
VisiCorp, the San Jose, Calif.-based publishers of the successful VisiCalc program for financial analysis, next month will begin shipping its VisiOn windowing package. Meanwhile, Microsoft, the leading personal computer software publisher (1983 sales: $100 million), has unveiled a competing product called Windows. Said Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates: "This is a milestone in software...
Camp settings range from the spartan to the sublime. In Scotts Valley, Calif, Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari, will provide a rustic redwood scene where campers bring their own sleeping bags and mix VisiCalc with volleyball. The Computer Resort in Chico, Calif, sponsored by Texas Instruments, features jumbo-size steaks barbecued around a swimming pool. Princess Cruises in Los Angeles will coordinate 15 hours of classes with a ten-day sail that includes calls at Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco. Cost: $1,995. Prefer your silicon seminars on terra firma? For $879, Club Med provides Atari computers along with...