The Battle of the Spreadsheets (original) (raw)
Business|The Battle of the Spreadsheets
https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/02/business/the-battle-of-the-spreadsheets.html
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Oct. 2, 1987
Credit...The New York Times Archives
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October 2, 1987
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Section D, Page
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In the first phase of the personal computer boom, the industry's two software heavyweights - the Microsoft Corporation and the Lotus Development Corporation - thrived largely by staying out of each other's way. That polite, unspoken arrangement ends next week.
On Tuesday, Microsoft is planning to introduce Excel, its innovative, graphics-heavy spreadsheet program, specifically designed to exploit the best features of the International Business Machines Corporation's new PS/2 line of personal computers.
In the minds of many in the industry, Excel may pose the first serious challenge to Lotus's 1-2-3, the spreadsheet program whose longevity has shocked even its creators.
For Microsoft, Excel is one of the most expensive, and by some measures one of the riskiest, in the company's 10-year history. Lotus, which dominates the spreadsheet market, has sold more than two million copies of 1-2-3. Faithful Customers
Among numbers-crunching accountants, corporate planners and business school students the program has developed the kind of loyal following usually reserved for Madonna and the Boston Red Sox.
''We don't expect to make a huge impact right away,'' said Jeff Raikes, who is in charge of marketing applications programs at Microsoft, which is based in Bellevue, Wash. ''But we are heading into a technology transition, and over the long term we have a major opportunity.''
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