[HN Gopher] The spreadsheet is a simulation machine
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       The spreadsheet is a simulation machine
        
       Author : arbesman
       Score  : 29 points
       Date   : 2024-03-12 20:34 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (arbesman.substack.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (arbesman.substack.com)
        
       | jkaptur wrote:
       | This view of spreadsheets is 100% accurate, beautiful, and
       | inspiring. Spreadsheets have brought the power of computation to
       | everyone.
       | 
       | ... but I love to contrast this view with the behavior that Joel
       | Spolsky observed: "... We visited dozens of Excel customers, and
       | did not see anyone using Excel to actually perform what you would
       | call 'calculations.' Almost all of them were using Excel because
       | it was a convenient way to create a table. [snip] Suddenly we
       | understood why Lotus Improv, which was this fancy futuristic
       | spreadsheet that was going to make Excel obsolete, had failed
       | completely: because it was great at calculations, but terrible at
       | creating tables, and everyone was using Excel for tables, not
       | calculations." https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2012/01/06/how-
       | trello-is-diff...
        
         | Gys wrote:
         | Fantastic observation. I once saw someone calculating the sum
         | of a column (just a few numbers, ok) with a calculator!
        
           | creakingstairs wrote:
           | There is a really famous screenshot in Korea of an old
           | manager telling a new hire to NOT use excel functions and do
           | it by hand (and shortly became a meme because of its
           | absurdity). I've also heard similar things had happened in
           | Japan.
        
       | thedanbob wrote:
       | My first real programming job involved creating cellular
       | computation simulations for a physics professor. I used Excel and
       | VBA... worked surprisingly well.
        
       | alliao wrote:
       | with greater power comes greater responsibilities, I hereby
       | present you
       | 
       | https://eusprig.org/research-info/horror-stories/
        
         | analog31 wrote:
         | I wonder how many people made errors with adding machines. And
         | data entry into apps. My hunch is that mistakes will be made.
        
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