Meet the inventor of the electronic spreadsheet | Dan Bricklin

Translator: Crawford Hunt Reviewer: Brian Greene

翻译人员: Junyi Sha 校对人员: 柚羕 胡

How many of you have used an electronic spreadsheet,

你们中有多少人用过 比如Microsoft Excel

like Microsoft Excel?

这样的电子表格呢？

Very good.

非常好。

那么，你们中又有多少人曾 用手写电子表格经营过小企业，

Now, how many of you have run a business with a spreadsheet by hand,

就像我爸爸在费城开设 小型印刷业务那样呢？

like my dad did for his small printing business in Philadelphia?

少了很多。

A lot less.

Well, that's the way it was done for hundreds of years.

不过几百年来各种表格都是用手写的。

In early 1978, I started working on an idea

早在1978年， 我就开始设想一个点子，

that eventually became VisiCalc.

它最终变成了VisiCalc （第一款电子表格办公软件）。

And the next year it shipped

第二年，它就开始在一个

叫做 Apple II 的个人 笔记本电脑新产品上运行了。

running on something new called an Apple II personal computer.

You could tell that things had really changed when, six years later,

这项发明为世界带来了 巨大的改变，就在六年之后，

the Wall Street Journal ran an editorial

华尔街日报刊登了一篇报道，

that assumed you knew what VisiCalc was and maybe even were using it.

说你一定知道VisiCalc是什么， 你也许正在使用它。

Steve Jobs back in 1990

1990年，史蒂夫・乔布斯

曾说：“电子表格推动了产业发展。”

said that "spreadsheets propelled the industry forward."

"VisiCalc propelled the success of Apple more than any other single event."

“VisiCalc推动了苹果的成功， 它的作用胜过了任何其它单一事件。”

On a more personal note,

在一个更加私人的评论当中，

Steve said, "If VisiCalc had been written for some other computer,

史蒂夫说：“如果VisiCalc 是写给其他电脑公司的，

you'd be interviewing somebody else right now."

你们现在就该在采访其他人了吧。”

So, VisiCalc was instrumental in getting personal computers on business desks.

所以，把私人电脑搬上商业舞台， VisiCalc发挥了大作用。

How did it come about?

这一切是怎么发生的？

What was it? What did I go through to make it be what it was?

它是什么？我是如何将它变成这样的？

Well, I first learned to program back in 1966, when I was 15 --

我第一次学会编程 是在1966年，那是我只有15岁——

just a couple months after this photo was taken.

大概是在拍了这张照片几个月之后。

Few high schoolers had access to computers in those days.

在那个年代，很少有 高中生就能接触到电脑的。

But through luck and an awful lot of perseverance,

但是有了运气，加上 无数坚持不懈的努力，

我终于得到了在城市里 使用电脑的机会。

I was able to get computer time around the city.

After sleeping in the mud at Woodstock, I went off to MIT to go to college,

在伍德斯托克的乡野中过了一阵子之后， 我去了麻省理工（MIT）上大学。

where to make money, I worked on the Multics Project.

为了赚钱，我参与了Multics项目。

Multics was a trailblazing interactive time-sharing system.

Multics是一个开创性的 交互式分时系统。

Have you heard of the Linux and Unix operating systems?

你们听说过Linux 和Unix操作系统吗？

They came from Multics.

他们的前身就是Multics。

I worked on the Multics versions

我在Multics主要致力于研究

of what are known as interpreted computer languages,

那些被非计算机领域的，

that are used by people in noncomputer fields

但是却要坐在电脑终端前 进行计算的人们所使用的

to do their calculations while seated at a computer terminal.

所谓的解释型计算机语言。

After I graduated from MIT,

从MIT毕业之后，

I went to work for Digital Equipment Corporation.

我去了数字设备公司（DEC）工作。

At DEC, I worked on software

在DEC，我主攻一个用于

for the new area of computerized typesetting.

计算机新领域， 文稿排版的软件。

I helped newspapers replace their reporters' typewriters

我帮助那些报社用电脑终端

代替记者们常用的打字机。

with computer terminals.

I'd write software

我编写软件，

并实地考察，去像 《堪萨斯城明星报》这样的地方，

and then I'd go out in the field to places like the Kansas City Star,

where I would train users and get feedback.

这那里，我训练那些用户， 并得到反馈。

This was real-world experience

这些实战经历

与我在MIT实验室里 所体验到的大相径庭。

that is quite different than what I saw in the lab at MIT.

After that, I was project leader

在那之后，我就成为了

of the software for DEC's first word processor, again a new field.

DEC第一个文字处理器软件的 项目主管，又是一个新领域。

Like with typesetting, the important thing was crafting a user interface

和文稿排版软件一样， 最重要的是做出一个

that was both natural and efficient for noncomputer people to use.

对于非计算机领域人士 既自然，又高效的用户页面。

After I was at DEC, I went to work for a small company

在DEC之后， 我又去了一家小公司工作，

that made microprocessor-based electronic cash registers for the fast-food industry.

他们做的是快餐领域中 基于微处理器的电子收银机。

But I had always wanted to start a company with my friend Bob Frankston

但是我一直以来都想和我在MIT， Multics项目中认识的好友

鲍勃·弗兰克斯顿一起开一家公司。

that I met on the Multics project at MIT.

So I decided to go back to school to learn as much as I could about business.

所以，我决定回到学校， 尽我所能的学习一下商业经营。

之后，在1977年的秋天，

And in the fall of 1977,

我加入了哈佛商学院的MBA项目。

I entered the MBA program at Harvard Business School.

I was one of the few percentage of students

我就是那一小部分

who had a background in computer programming.

有计算机编程背景的学生之一。

这是年鉴中我的照片， 我坐在前排。

There's a picture of me from the yearbook sitting in the front row.

（笑声）

(Laughter)

在哈佛，我们是以 案例分析的方式学习的。

Now, at Harvard, we learned by the case method.

We'd do about three cases a day.

我们每天大约做三个案例分析。

Cases consist of up to a few dozen pages describing particular business situations.

每个案例都是由好几十页纸组成的， 描述了某个具体的企业经营情况。

They often have exhibits, and exhibits often have words and numbers

它们通常会有演释，这些演释中 经常会有一些字母和数字，

laid out in ways that make sense for the particular situation.

而它们的排列只在 特定的情况下才有意义。

They're usually all somewhat different.

它们通常都是完全不同的。

Here's my homework.

这是我的作业。

又是数字，字母， 以一种有意义的方式排列。

Again, numbers, words, laid out in ways that made sense.

Lots of calculations -- we got really close to our calculators.

计算量非常大—— 我们的效率都快接近计算器了。

In fact, here's my calculator.

事实上，这是我当时用的计算器。

For Halloween, I went dressed up as a calculator.

在万圣节，我还穿成了计算器的模样。

（笑声）

(Laughter)

At the beginning of each class, the professor would call on somebody

在每节课的开始，教授都会叫一个人

去汇报案例。

to present the case.

他们通常会介绍一下案例，

What they would do is they would explain what was going on

and then dictate information that the professor would transcribe

然后口述一下信息， 教授就会把信息转录到

onto the many motorized blackboards in the front of the class,

教室最前方的电动黑板上，

and then we'd have a discussion.

然后我们会就此展开讨论。

最令人沮丧的事情之一 就是当你做完了所有的作业，

One of the really frustrating things is when you've done all your homework,

you come in the next day only to find out that you made an error

然而第二天早上一来， 发现出了一个小错误，

and all of the other numbers you did were wrong.

然后其它的数据就跟着都算错了。

这样你就没法参与课堂讨论了。

And you couldn't participate as well.

可是我们是根据课堂参与度打分的。

And we were marked by class participation.

So, sitting there with 87 other people in the class, I got to daydream a lot.

所以，跟着其它87个人同坐在 一个教室里，我经常开小差。

Most programmers in those days worked on mainframes,

那个年代，大多数的程序员 都是主攻中央处理器的，

建造一些像是库存系统，工资系统 或是账单处理系统之类的。

building things like inventory systems, payroll systems and bill-paying systems.

But I had worked on interactive word processing

但是我曾在互动语言处理

和按需个人计算领域工作过。

and on-demand personal computation.

Instead of thinking about paper printouts and punch cards,

我没有考虑打印纸或是穿孔纸，

I imagined a magic blackboard

而是想象出了一个神奇的黑板，

that if you erased one number and wrote a new thing in,

只要擦掉一个数字， 然后再写一个新的进去，

所有其它的数据都会跟着自动改变，

all of the other numbers would automatically change,

like word processing with numbers.

就像是数字领域的文字处理过程。

I imagined that my calculator had mouse hardware on the bottom of it

我想象我的计算器 能在底部有鼠标和硬件，

and a head-up display, like in a fighter plane.

上方还有个显示屏， 就像是一架战斗机。

And I could type some numbers in, and circle it, and press the sum button.

这样，我就可以输一些数字进去， 然后圈中它，按下求和键。

And right in the middle of a negotiation I'd be able to get the answer.

这样，在谈判桌上 我们就能够得到结果了。

Now I just had to take my fantasy and turn it into reality.

现在，我只需要 把我的理想变为现实了。

My father taught me about prototyping.

我父亲教会了我如何设计原型。

He showed me mock-ups

他给我展示了那种为了找到

that he'd make to figure out the placement on the page

小册子上正确印刷位置

for the things for brochures that he was printing.

而制作的模型。

他使用这些模型 去收集来自用户的反馈，

And he'd use it to get feedback from customers

当得到好的回复时， 他就把他的作品送到印刷厂。

and OKs before he sent the job off to the presses.

The act of making a simple, working version of what you're trying to build

试图去建立一种简单的， 可用的版本的行为

forces you to uncover key problems.

迫使你去揭露那些关键问题。

And it lets you find solutions to those problems much less expensively.

而且这也使你能够 更加低成本的解决那些问题。

So I decided to build a prototype.

所以我决定去建造一台原型机。

I went to a video terminal connected to Harvard's time-sharing system

我前往了一个连接在 哈佛分时系统里的视频终端

and got to work.

并开始了工作。

One of the first problems that I ran into was:

我遇到的最基本的一个问题就是：

如何表达算式中的数值呢？

How do you represent values in formulas?

Let me show you what I mean.

我来解释一下。

我想象你会指向某个方向，

I thought that you would point somewhere,

type in some words, then type in some somewhere else,

输入某个单词， 然后在另一个位置，

put in some numbers and some more numbers, point where you want the answer.

放进一些数字，更多的数字， 指一下你想要得到结果的地方。

And then point to the first, press minus, point to the second,

指向第一个数字，放上减号， 再指向第二个数字，

and get the result.

然后得到结果。

The problem was: What should I put in the formula?

问题在于： 我应该把什么放进公式里呢？

It had to be something the computer knew what to put in.

这就需要电脑去知道 该把什么东西放进去

And if you looked at the formula,

而当你看见公式的时候，

你就需要知道在屏幕上 它所代表的位置含义。

you needed to know where on the screen it referred to.

The first thing I thought was the programmer way of doing it.

我最初想到的是以一种 程序员的方式去做这件事。

The first time you pointed to somewhere,

当第一次你指向一个位置的时候，

the computer would ask you to type in a unique name.

电脑会要求你输入一个特殊的名称。

It became pretty clear pretty fast that that was going to be too tedious.

而很快事情就变得清晰起来了， 这个过程太单调乏味了。

The computer had to automatically make up the name and put it inside.

电脑要能够自动的编译名称 并把它放进所指定的位置。

So I thought, why not make it be the order in which you create them?

所以我就想，为什么不让他们 以一种你们创造他们的顺序排列？

I tried that. Value 1, value 2.

我尝试了。数值1，数值2。

然后，很快我就意识到了， 如果你的数字很多，

Pretty quickly I saw that if you had more than a few values

you'd never remember on the screen where things were.

要想记住它们在屏幕上的 位置是根本不可能的。

然后我就说，为什么 不让你们随便把数值放在哪里，

Then I said, why not instead of allowing you to put values anywhere,

I'll restrict you to a grid?

然后我来用一个表格进行限制？

Then when you pointed to a cell,

然后当你指向一个单元格，

the computer could put the row and column in as a name.

电脑就会自动生成携带名字的行与列。

And, if I did it like a map and put ABC across the top and numbers along the side,

然后，如果我把它做的和地图一样， 在顶上横向生成ABC，侧面纵向生成数字，

if you saw B7 in a formula,

那么当你在公式中看到B7时，

you'd know exactly where it was on the screen.

你就会准确的知道 它在屏幕中的位置了。

And if you had to type the formula in yourself, you'd know what to do.

如果你必须要手动输入公式的时候， 你也会知道该怎么做。

Restricting you to a grid helped solve my problem.

把这些都限制在表格当中 解决了我的问题。

It also opened up new capabilities, like the ability to have ranges of cells.

这也开启了一些新的功能， 比如设定单元格的操作范围。

But it wasn't too restrictive --

但是它并非很死板——

you could still put any value, any formula, in any cell.

你仍旧可以把任何值， 任何公式放进任意的单元格当中。

这就是我们一直到今天 都在做的，将近40年之后。

And that's the way we do it to this day, almost 40 years later.

我的朋友鲍勃和我决定 要一起制作这个产品。

My friend Bob and I decided that we were going to build this product together.

I did more work figuring out exactly how the program was supposed to behave.

我花了更多的时间去研究 这个程序究竟该如何运作。

I wrote a reference card to act as documentation.

我还写了一篇参考文档，用作记录。

It also helped me ensure that the user interface I was defining

这也帮助了我确保 我所定义的用户界面

could be explained concisely and clearly to regular people.

可以向普通人简洁，清晰地阐述。

Bob worked in the attic of the apartment he rented in Arlington, Massachusetts.

鲍勃是在马萨诸塞州阿灵顿市 租的公寓小阁楼上工作的。

This is the inside of the attic.

这就是小阁楼的内部。

Bob bought time on the MIT Multics System

鲍勃购买了MIT，Multics的分时系统，

用于在像这样的终端上书写代码。

to write computer code on a terminal like this.

And then he would download test versions to a borrowed Apple II

然后他就会使用声音耦合器，通过电话线

over a phone line using an acoustic coupler,

将测试版本下载到借来的Apple II电脑上，

and then we would test.

然后我们就会测试它。

For one of these tests I prepared for this case about the Pepsi Challenge.

我准备的测试之一就是百事挑战。

Print wasn't working yet, so I had to copy everything down.

那时还没法打印，所以 我只能将所有东西抄录下来。

Save wasn't working, so every time it crashed,

当时也没有保存功能， 所以每次程序崩溃时，

I had to type in all of the formulas again, over and over again.

我都必须将所有的公式 都一遍又一遍地重输进去。

The next day in class, I raised my hand; I got called on, and I presented the case.

第二天在课堂上，我举起了我的手； 我被叫到了台上展示案例。

我做了一个五年的预测。 我做了各种各样的情景预期。

I did five-year projections. I did all sorts of different scenarios.

I aced the case. VisiCalc was already useful.

我成功的做出了这个案例， VisCalc已经很有用了。

教授就问，“你是怎么做出来的？”

The professor said, "How did you do it?"

Well, I didn't want to tell him about our secret program.

不过，我不想告诉他我们的秘密项目。

（笑声）

(Laughter)

所以我就说，“我选取这个，加上这个，

So I said, "I took this and added this

然后乘以这个，然后再减去那个。”

and multiplied by this and subtracted that."

他说，“好吧，你为什么不用比率呢？”

He said, "Well, why didn't you use a ratio?"

我说，“哈！因为用比率 就没有那么准确了！”

I said, "Hah! A ratio -- that wouldn't have been as exact!"

What I didn't say was, "Divide isn't working yet."

但我没有说的是：“除法暂时还不好用。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

最后，总而言之，我们确实 把VisCalc做的足够完整了，

Eventually, though, we did finish enough of VisiCalc

to be able to show it to the public.

可以把它向大众展示了。

My dad printed up a sample reference card

我父亲就把参考文档的 小样打印了出来。

that we could use as marketing material.

我们就把它当作我们的宣传材料。

In June of 1979, our publisher announced VisiCalc to the world,

在1979年的六月，我们的出版商 在纽约大型计算机会议上的

一个小摊位上， 把VisCalc介绍给了全世界。

in a small booth at the giant National Computer Conference in New York City.

The New York Times had a humorous article about the conference.

纽约时代周刊为 这次的会议写了一篇趣评。

"The machines perform what seem religious rites ...

“机器正在表演看似宗教仪式的东西……

Even as the believers gather,

信徒们不断聚集而来，

the painters in the Coliseum sign room are adding to the pantheon,

画家们不断聚集到大型场所，加入圣殿，

carefully lettering 'VISICALC' in giant black on yellow.

仔细地在巨大的黄板上写下 巨大黑色的‘VISCALC’字样。

All hail VISICALC!"

所有人都在为VISCALC喝彩！”

(Gasp) New York Times: "All hail VISICALC."

那可是纽约时报啊： “所有人都在喝彩，VISCALC！”

（笑声）

(Laughter)

That was the last mention of the electronic spreadsheet

这也是最后一次一个电子表格

in the popular business press for about two years.

能在流行商业新闻中红两年。

Most people didn't get it yet.

大多数人还不是很理解。

但是有些人理解了。

But some did.

In October of 1979, we shipped VisiCalc.

在1979年10月，我们发售了VisCalc。

It came in packaging that looked like this.

它的包装刚到的时候是这样的。

And it looked like this running on the Apple II.

当它在Apple II上运行的时候是这样的。

剩下的，按照他们的说法，就是历史了。

And the rest, as they say, is history.

Now, there's an awful lot more to this story,

现在，这个故事还有好大一截子呢，

but that'll have to wait for another day.

但是我只能留到过两天再说了。

One thing, though, Harvard remembers.

尽管如此，但是有一点， 哈佛还记得这事。

Here's that classroom.

这就是当时的教室。

They put up a plaque to commemorate what happened there.

他们居然竖了块儿牌子 来纪念当时这儿发生的事。

(Applause)

（掌声）

But it also serves as a reminder

但这也是一个提醒，

that you, too, should take your unique backgrounds, skills and needs

那就是，你们一样，也能够 运用你们的特殊背景，技能和需求

and build prototypes to discover and work out the key problems,

去设计原型，并发现， 解决那些关键问题，

and through that, change the world.

然后通过这一切，改变这个世界。

谢谢。

Thank you.

（掌声）

(Applause)