There seems to be no disputing spreadsheets will be a part of the future and will play an increasingly important role as a central player to BI roll outs of the future. But how many people actually know the history of spreadsheets, where they came from, what different vendors have come and gone before we arrived at the current situation of having the ever present Microsoft Excel in an organisation.
There will be many of the younger generation that will have grown up with and now accept Excel as a part of their lives and most likely believe that it would never disappear, but we have just completed a very interesting project putting together a “coffee table” book that is intended to be a constant companion for PC users wanting to use Excel 2007 more efficiently. I found it fascinating that 1952 saw the first non-computerised reference to the term “spread sheet” listed in a Dictionary for Accountants and refers to a worksheet providing a two way analysis of accounting data – an accounting matrix in which the columns and rows constitute either debit or credit sides respectively or reverse, and from these humble beginnings have emerged the likes of MS Excel which by May 1996 had more than a staggering 30 million users worldwide.
Our book is due for release in mid December 2008 and if you are interested in more spreadsheet history, tips and tricks, power short cuts for function buttons and other useful information, have a look around www.alchemex.com.
