<s>
Full	B-Language
Impact	I-Language
was	O
a	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
program	I-Application
for	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
Macintosh	I-Device
computer	I-Device
released	O
by	O
Ashton-Tate	O
in	O
the	O
late	O
1980s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Full	B-Language
Impact	I-Language
was	O
known	O
for	O
excellent	O
graphing	O
and	O
visual	O
display	O
,	O
far	O
better	O
than	O
contemporary	O
versions	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Excel	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
But	O
this	O
was	O
also	O
its	O
only	O
really	O
compelling	O
feature	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
was	O
unable	O
to	O
find	O
a	O
market	O
niche	O
given	O
the	O
dominance	O
of	O
Excel	B-Application
in	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
marketplace	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Full	B-Language
Impact	I-Language
started	O
in	O
a	O
roundabout	O
fashion	O
when	O
early	O
Apple	O
employee	O
and	O
programmer	O
Randy	O
Wigginton	O
decided	O
to	O
write	O
a	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
program	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wigginton	O
had	O
left	O
Apple	O
during	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
development	O
process	O
to	O
start	O
Encore	O
Systems	O
with	O
two	O
friends	O
,	O
Don	O
Breuner	O
and	O
Ed	O
Ruder	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
were	O
soon	O
hired	O
by	O
Steve	O
Jobs	O
to	O
develop	O
a	O
word	O
processor	O
for	O
the	O
soon-to-be-released	O
Macintosh	B-Device
,	O
which	O
would	O
become	O
MacWrite	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wigginton	O
wanted	O
to	O
duplicate	O
this	O
success	O
by	O
making	O
a	O
GUI-based	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
that	O
would	O
be	O
easier	O
to	O
use	O
than	O
anything	O
on	O
the	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
a	O
word	O
processor	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
a	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
requires	O
a	O
complex	O
"	O
engine	O
"	O
to	O
quickly	O
solve	O
the	O
many	O
equations	O
that	O
make	O
it	O
up	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
in	O
September	O
1984	O
,	O
shortly	O
after	O
the	O
Mac	B-Device
's	O
release	O
,	O
Wigginton	O
and	O
his	O
two	O
partners	O
started	O
looking	O
for	O
an	O
engine	O
,	O
and	O
were	O
introduced	O
to	O
Richard	O
Ross	O
by	O
an	O
Apple	O
employee	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
agreed	O
that	O
Encore	O
would	O
adapt	O
a	O
GUI	B-Application
to	O
Ross	O
's	O
engine	O
,	O
which	O
would	O
become	O
MacCalc	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
used	O
the	O
prototype	O
GUI	B-Application
created	O
for	O
MacCalc	O
along	O
with	O
a	O
new	O
engine	O
,	O
Alembic	O
,	O
(	O
written	O
by	O
Queue	O
Associates	O
)	O
and	O
almost	O
completely	O
rewritten	O
by	O
Les	O
Vogel	O
to	O
create	O
the	O
Glass	O
project	O
,	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
Pegasus	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instead	O
,	O
Ashton-Tate	O
vacillated	O
between	O
being	O
extremely	O
interested	O
in	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
market	O
,	O
considering	O
it	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
break	O
out	O
of	O
their	O
dBASE-dominated	O
PC	O
line	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
being	O
completely	O
ambivalent	O
about	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
vacillation	O
appears	O
to	O
have	O
been	O
based	O
largely	O
on	O
Mac	B-Device
sales	O
reports	O
;	O
when	O
sales	O
were	O
up	O
the	O
Mac	B-Device
was	O
Ashton-Tate	O
'	O
s	O
next	O
big	O
thing	O
,	O
when	O
sales	O
dropped	O
it	O
was	O
n't	O
worth	O
bothering	O
with	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
lawsuit	O
out	O
of	O
the	O
way	O
,	O
the	O
product	O
finally	O
started	O
shipping	O
in	O
August	O
1988	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
new	O
name	O
Full	B-Language
Impact	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Full	B-Language
Impact	I-Language
was	O
also	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
to	O
allow	O
typing	O
data	O
and	O
formulas	O
directly	O
into	O
the	O
cells	O
,	O
a	O
feature	O
that	O
is	O
still	O
fairly	O
poorly	O
implemented	O
today	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
But	O
certainly	O
the	O
most	O
lauded	O
feature	O
was	O
that	O
Full	B-Language
Impact	I-Language
allowed	O
you	O
to	O
include	O
other	O
objects	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
text	O
blocks	O
,	O
charts	O
or	O
pictures	O
,	O
directly	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
the	O
sheets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
most	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
displayed	O
these	O
items	O
in	O
separate	O
views	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
had	O
recently	O
shipped	O
Excel	B-Application
3.0	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
off	O
to	O
a	O
strong	O
start	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Only	O
shortly	O
after	O
Full	B-Language
Impact	I-Language
was	O
released	O
,	O
Informix	B-Application
Wingz	I-Application
shipped	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
heavily	O
marketed	O
—	O
including	O
sending	O
their	O
frontman	O
,	O
Leonard	O
Nimoy	O
,	O
around	O
to	O
various	O
Macintosh-related	O
trade	O
shows	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ashton-Tate	O
positioned	O
the	O
product	O
as	O
a	O
"	O
presentation	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
"	O
to	O
focus	O
on	O
its	O
graphics	O
capabilities	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
seems	O
the	O
term	O
meant	O
as	O
much	O
to	O
potential	O
customers	O
then	O
as	O
it	O
does	O
today	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sales	O
of	O
Full	B-Language
Impact	I-Language
were	O
predictably	O
soft	O
as	O
a	O
result	O
,	O
as	O
were	O
Ashton-Tate	O
'	O
s	O
other	O
Mac	B-Device
products	O
,	O
FullWrite	B-Operating_System
Professional	I-Operating_System
and	O
dBASE	B-Application
Mac	I-Application
,	O
which	O
suffered	O
from	O
various	O
problems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Finally	O
,	O
in	O
late	O
1989	O
,	O
a	O
round	O
of	O
upgrades	O
to	O
FullWrite	B-Operating_System
and	O
Full	B-Language
Impact	I-Language
were	O
announced	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Full	B-Language
Impact	I-Language
2.0s	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
1990	O
,	O
including	O
3-D	O
charts	O
and	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
include	O
voice	O
notes	O
,	O
a	O
major	O
feature	O
of	O
a	O
coincident	O
release	O
of	O
FullWrite	B-Operating_System
1.5s	O
as	O
well	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
separate	O
release	O
in	O
1989	O
added	O
Clear	O
Access	O
at	O
$99	O
,	O
a	O
3rd	O
party	O
database	O
linking	O
technology	O
based	O
on	O
Apple	O
's	O
CL/1	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
But	O
this	O
was	O
also	O
the	O
point	O
at	O
which	O
Ashton-Tate	O
'	O
s	O
cash	O
cow	O
,	O
dBASE	B-Application
,	O
failed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1990	O
,	O
they	O
released	O
dBASE	B-Application
IV	I-Application
,	O
which	O
was	O
so	O
buggy	O
that	O
customers	O
generally	O
refused	O
to	O
use	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
took	O
this	O
as	O
an	O
opportunity	O
to	O
try	O
out	O
similar	O
products	O
,	O
and	O
discovered	O
that	O
FoxPro	B-Application
and	O
Clipper	B-Application
had	O
been	O
better	O
than	O
dBASE	B-Application
for	O
some	O
time	O
already	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
was	O
soon	O
bleeding	O
money	O
and	O
gave	O
up	O
on	O
the	O
Mac	B-Device
market	O
,	O
ending	O
development	O
of	O
their	O
entire	O
suite	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unfortunately	O
,	O
Borland	O
had	O
their	O
own	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
battling	O
with	O
Excel	B-Application
on	O
Windows	O
,	O
Quattro	B-Application
Pro	I-Application
,	O
and	O
they	O
immediately	O
ended	O
sales	O
of	O
Full	B-Language
Impact	I-Language
.	O
</s>
