<s>
Lotus	B-Device
Improv	I-Device
is	O
a	O
discontinued	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
program	I-Application
from	O
Lotus	O
Development	O
released	O
in	O
1991	O
for	O
the	O
NeXTSTEP	B-Application
platform	O
and	O
then	O
for	O
Windows	B-Application
3.1	I-Application
in	O
1993	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Development	O
was	O
put	O
on	O
hiatus	O
in	O
1994	O
after	O
slow	O
sales	O
on	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
platform	O
,	O
and	O
officially	O
ended	O
in	O
April	O
1996	O
after	O
Lotus	O
was	O
purchased	O
by	O
IBM	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Improv	O
was	O
an	O
attempt	O
to	O
redefine	O
the	O
way	O
a	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
program	I-Application
should	O
work	O
,	O
to	O
make	O
it	O
easier	O
to	O
build	O
new	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
and	O
to	O
modify	O
existing	O
ones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Conventional	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
used	O
on-screen	O
cells	O
to	O
store	O
all	O
data	O
,	O
formulas	O
,	O
and	O
notes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
not	O
a	O
commercial	O
success	O
in	O
comparison	O
to	O
mainstream	O
products	O
like	O
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
or	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Excel	I-Application
,	O
Improv	O
found	O
a	O
strong	O
following	O
in	O
certain	O
niche	O
markets	O
,	O
notably	O
financial	O
modeling	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Apple	O
Inc.	O
'	O
s	O
Numbers	B-Operating_System
combines	O
a	O
formula	O
and	O
naming	O
system	O
similar	O
to	O
Improv	O
's	O
,	O
but	O
running	O
within	O
a	O
conventional	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
were	O
pieces	O
of	O
paper	O
with	O
vertical	O
and	O
horizontal	O
lines	O
on	O
them	O
,	O
a	O
customized	O
worksheet	O
intended	O
for	O
accounting	O
uses	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Berkeley	O
professor	O
,	O
Richard	O
Mattessich	O
,	O
was	O
a	O
proponent	O
of	O
using	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
for	O
financial	O
modeling	O
and	O
"	O
what	O
if	O
"	O
calculations	O
for	O
businesses	O
,	O
but	O
noted	O
that	O
it	O
could	O
take	O
so	O
long	O
to	O
recalculate	O
it	O
to	O
run	O
a	O
different	O
scenario	O
that	O
the	O
inputs	O
would	O
be	O
out	O
of	O
date	O
by	O
the	O
time	O
the	O
calculation	O
was	O
finished	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Teaching	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
modelling	O
was	O
common	O
in	O
business	O
schools	O
,	O
often	O
using	O
chalkboards	O
marked	O
up	O
with	O
a	O
layout	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
paper	O
versions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1979	O
Daniel	O
Bricklin	O
was	O
using	O
such	O
a	O
device	O
when	O
he	O
decided	O
to	O
attempt	O
to	O
computerize	O
it	O
on	O
the	O
newly	O
introduced	O
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Joined	O
by	O
Bob	O
Frankston	O
,	O
the	O
two	O
created	O
the	O
first	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
,	O
VisiCalc	B-Application
,	O
and	O
released	O
it	O
on	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
computer	O
in	O
1979	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
Ben	O
Rosen	O
of	O
Morgan	O
Stanley	O
saw	O
the	O
program	O
,	O
he	O
wrote	O
that	O
"	O
VisiCalc	B-Application
might	O
be	O
the	O
software	O
tail	O
that	O
wagged	O
the	O
computer	O
industry	O
dog.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
VisiCalc	B-Application
was	O
an	O
enormous	O
success	O
,	O
so	O
much	O
so	O
that	O
a	O
huge	O
number	O
of	O
clones	O
appeared	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
these	O
was	O
written	O
by	O
a	O
former	O
VisiCalc	B-Application
programmer	O
,	O
Mitch	O
Kapor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
His	O
version	O
,	O
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
,	O
would	O
go	O
on	O
to	O
be	O
an	O
even	O
greater	O
success	O
than	O
VisiCalc	B-Application
,	O
in	O
no	O
small	O
part	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
it	O
ran	O
on	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
tuned	O
for	O
,	O
the	O
new	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
shipped	O
60,000	O
copies	O
in	O
the	O
first	O
month	O
,	O
and	O
Lotus	O
was	O
soon	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
largest	O
software	O
companies	O
in	O
the	O
world	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
of	O
their	O
initial	O
tasks	O
was	O
to	O
see	O
if	O
they	O
could	O
simplify	O
the	O
task	O
of	O
setting	O
up	O
a	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Completed	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
were	O
easy	O
to	O
use	O
,	O
but	O
many	O
users	O
found	O
it	O
difficult	O
to	O
imagine	O
what	O
the	O
sheet	O
needed	O
to	O
look	O
like	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
get	O
started	O
creating	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Yet	O
in	O
every	O
case	O
,	O
the	O
existing	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
programs	I-Application
required	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
type	O
all	O
of	O
these	O
items	O
into	O
the	O
same	O
(	O
typically	O
single	O
)	O
sheet	O
's	O
cells	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
insight	O
led	O
to	O
ideas	O
for	O
a	O
new	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
that	O
would	O
cleanly	O
separate	O
these	O
concepts	O
data	O
,	O
formulas	O
,	O
and	O
output	O
views	O
that	O
would	O
combine	O
data	O
and	O
formulas	O
in	O
a	O
format	O
suitable	O
for	O
the	O
end	O
user	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Salas	O
also	O
noted	O
that	O
it	O
was	O
the	O
views	O
of	O
output	O
data	O
that	O
was	O
often	O
the	O
weakest	O
part	O
of	O
existing	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Salas	O
demonstrated	O
that	O
this	O
separation	O
meant	O
that	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
common	O
tasks	O
that	O
required	O
lengthy	O
calculations	O
on	O
existing	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
could	O
be	O
handled	O
almost	O
for	O
free	O
simply	O
by	O
changing	O
the	O
view	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
if	O
a	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
contained	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
monthly	O
sales	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
not	O
uncommon	O
to	O
have	O
an	O
output	O
column	O
that	O
summed	O
up	O
the	O
sales	O
by	O
month	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
summer	O
of	O
1986	O
,	O
Salas	O
had	O
created	O
a	O
slideshow-like	O
demonstration	O
of	O
a	O
system	O
known	O
as	O
Modeler	O
on	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
1987	O
he	O
hired	O
Glenn	O
Edelson	O
to	O
implement	O
a	O
working	O
version	O
in	O
C++	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
examining	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
platforms	O
,	O
including	O
DOS	B-Device
and	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
,	O
the	O
team	O
decided	O
the	O
target	O
platform	O
would	O
be	O
OS/2	B-Application
,	O
at	O
that	O
time	O
considered	O
to	O
be	O
an	O
up-and-coming	O
system	O
in	O
the	O
commercial	O
space	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Lotus	O
team	O
was	O
equally	O
excited	O
about	O
NeXT	O
,	O
but	O
continued	O
work	O
on	O
the	O
OS/2	B-Application
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
proved	O
to	O
be	O
much	O
more	O
difficult	O
than	O
imagined	O
;	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
OS/2	B-Application
was	O
very	O
buggy	O
,	O
and	O
their	O
Presentation	B-Device
Manager	I-Device
UI	O
was	O
in	O
its	O
infancy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
struggling	O
with	O
OS/2	B-Application
for	O
months	O
,	O
in	O
February	O
1989	O
they	O
decided	O
to	O
move	O
it	O
to	O
NeXT	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
More	O
importantly	O
,	O
he	O
also	O
sent	O
Bruce	O
Blumberg	O
,	O
one	O
of	O
NeXT	O
's	O
software	O
experts	O
,	O
to	O
teach	O
the	O
Lotus	O
team	O
about	O
NeXTSTEP	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
worrying	O
problem	O
turned	O
out	O
to	O
be	O
an	O
enormous	O
advantage	O
in	O
practice	O
;	O
as	O
the	O
back-end	O
was	O
written	O
in	O
C++	B-Language
and	O
the	O
front-end	O
in	O
Objective-C	B-Language
,	O
it	O
turned	O
out	O
to	O
be	O
very	O
easy	O
to	O
segregate	O
the	O
program	O
and	O
track	O
down	O
bugs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
demanded	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
directly	O
manipulate	O
the	O
categories	O
and	O
data	O
on-screen	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
using	O
menus	O
or	O
separate	O
windows	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Blumberg	O
remained	O
on-call	O
to	O
help	O
with	O
technical	O
issues	O
,	O
which	O
became	O
serious	O
as	O
NeXT	O
was	O
in	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
releasing	O
NeXTSTEP	B-Application
2.0	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
major	O
update	O
to	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
release	O
on	O
NeXT	O
(	O
a	O
version	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
Black	O
Marlin	O
"	O
)	O
attempts	O
were	O
made	O
to	O
port	O
to	O
Windows	B-Application
(	O
"	O
Blue	O
Marlin	O
"	O
)	O
and	O
Macintosh	B-Device
(	O
"	O
Red	O
Marlin	O
"	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
APIs	O
and	O
programming	O
language	O
for	O
NeXTSTEP	B-Application
were	O
so	O
different	O
from	O
Windows	B-Application
and	O
Macintosh	B-Application
system	I-Application
software	I-Application
that	O
porting	O
was	O
very	O
difficult	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lotus	B-Device
Improv	I-Device
for	O
Windows	B-Application
v2.0	O
(	O
there	O
was	O
no	O
1.0	O
)	O
shipped	O
in	O
May	O
1993	O
,	O
running	O
on	O
Windows	B-Application
3.1	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
the	O
NeXT	O
release	O
,	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
version	O
also	O
garnered	O
critical	O
praise	O
,	O
with	O
Byte	O
Magazine	O
noting	O
its	O
"	O
usability	O
is	O
outstanding	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
spite	O
of	O
the	O
positive	O
reviews	O
,	O
sales	O
on	O
Windows	B-Application
were	O
slow	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Among	O
the	O
favored	O
explanations	O
are	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
,	O
unlike	O
the	O
release	O
on	O
NeXT	O
,	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
version	O
faced	O
strong	O
internal	O
resistance	O
from	O
1-2-3	O
,	O
and	O
corporate	O
immune	O
response	O
became	O
an	O
issue	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
explanations	O
include	O
the	O
fact	O
that	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Excel	I-Application
was	O
being	O
offered	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
Office	B-Application
bundle	O
at	O
marginal	O
rates	O
that	O
were	O
tiny	O
in	O
comparison	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
several	O
mis-steps	O
during	O
introduction	O
,	O
like	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
a	O
macro	O
language	O
or	O
undo	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Joel	O
Spolsky	O
blames	O
it	O
on	O
the	O
design	O
itself	O
,	O
claiming	O
it	O
was	O
too	O
perfectly	O
aimed	O
at	O
a	O
specific	O
market	O
and	O
lacked	O
the	O
generality	O
that	O
Excel	B-Application
featured	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
Improv	O
disappeared	O
in	O
the	O
1990s	O
,	O
the	O
program	O
is	O
fondly	O
recalled	O
in	O
the	O
industry	O
and	O
continues	O
to	O
be	O
mentioned	O
in	O
books	O
on	O
Excel	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
itself	O
would	O
contain	O
only	O
input	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Views	O
of	O
the	O
data	O
,	O
some	O
of	O
which	O
looked	O
like	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
,	O
others	O
like	O
charts	O
,	O
could	O
be	O
created	O
dynamically	O
and	O
were	O
not	O
limited	O
in	O
number	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
conventional	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
the	O
unit	O
price	O
would	O
be	O
typed	O
into	O
one	O
set	O
of	O
cells	O
,	O
say	O
the	O
"	O
A	O
"	O
column	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
sales	O
into	O
another	O
,	O
say	O
"	O
B	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Any	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
layout	O
of	O
the	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
will	O
often	O
make	O
the	O
entire	O
sheet	O
stop	O
working	O
properly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
concept	O
has	O
later	O
been	O
implemented	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
pivot	B-Application
tables	I-Application
in	O
several	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
