The Top 8 Innovators of the 1980's
Slide Title: 1983: Mitch Kapor
Lotus 1-2-3 was the PC's first killer application, and Mitch Kapor was
the man behind it. When Lotus debuted in January 1983, many digital
spreadsheets were running on the IBM PC—including market leader
VisiCalc—but none took full advantage of the new hardware. "The IBM was
the first 16-bit personal computer, which meant it was faster and had far
more memory," says Kapor.
In hindsight, Kapor's Big Grok was a
no-brainer. He realized how powerful a spreadsheet could be if it used all
16 bits. Together with partner Jonathan Sachs, Kapor built an entirely new
app using raw assembly language—code that spoke directly to the IBM's
processor. When they finished, Lotus 1-2-3 was five times as fast as
VisiCalc, and could handle far larger spreadsheets. Suddenly, there was a
PC app that even the average business person was dying to have. In just 12
months on the market, 1-2-3 generated $53 million in revenue. The next
year, revenues topped $156 million, and it was no coincidence the PC's
popularity skyrocketed in much the same way.
Read more headlines
from the second year of PC Magazine: 1983.