Introduction to Microsoft Excel 1990

Microsoft Excel Video with Jan Brehm

[@petertenthije]

30 years later, and nothing has changed: The world still uses excel; There is still one guy doing the work; There are still three guys being clueless; There is still one guy pushing to go faster, thinking the project is doomed… and taking the credit when everything works out.

[@miguellagrimas466]

I might be that last guy🤣

[@arnaboceanatyahoo]

Hahaha

[@ugh.idontwanna]

... And the work in question could easily be automated.

[@bkboy2384]

Sad

[@mareksicinski3726]

well not sure if he took credit

[@PSjustanormalguy]

All things considered, design decisions on that format cell dialogue box , autosum, and autofill have remained unchanged in 30years. Hats off to the original team that brought this to market

[@krishnasanyal7]

Yup this was genius in itself

[@Senor_Gago]

a lot of other features are even older, coming from visicalc in 1978

[@lucky-belindaniko9732]

Right?! I am SHOOKETH at how it still looks the same!

[@Gurmudgin]

It never had to change because it did exactly what it needed to from the start. A beautiful bit of software.

[@patrickvalentino600]

The other characters complaining "my spreadsheet doesn't do that"....then what exactly did it do, and how was it different than pencil and paper? This was basic excel functionality even in the 80's

[@vintagebroadcastingsystem8028]

All of the comments are so focused on how revolutionary Excel was that everyone seems to have overlooked the fact that the woman in the ad is Jan Brehm, the actress to whom this channel belongs. After visiting your website, congratulations are in order for a very successful career. What's more, 30 years later, you still look as lovely as you did in that Excel commercial. Thanks for posting the commercial. It's fun to watch all these years later.

[@janinewacker123]

Thank you so much for your kind comment. Much appreciated!

[@vintagebroadcastingsystem8028]

@@janinewacker123 It's my pleasure Jan:)

[@lonccoccala6861]

I was about to ask whos this woman...and you did it..

[@deusmuerte6832]

She doesn't look that good to notice her. Especially if you compare her with models of 80's and 90's.

[@NazriB]

Lies again? Burger King FNB Money

[@pansiesagain60]

I remember when I started teaching Excel at an adult school in California. I had several students who were stuck on Lotus 1-2-3 and didn't want to change. They thought Lotus for DOS was the best and didn't want to change until I gave them an overhead projector lesson with Excel. My presentation took about 10 minutes and they were hooked! They said what the other two guys said. Lotus doesn't do that! LOL! ALL of my students went to the office and switched to Excel and were so excited on how fast and easy it was. I still teach Microsoft Excel online now and the university where I now teach is upgrading to the 2021 version. It's great for me to get to learn new things with Excel too, as it upgrades and changes! I actually post this video in my announcements every new semester for my students to view now so that they can see how great Excel is.

[@TGre-i9f]

What would you recommend to a first time user?

[@FRh0]

​@@TGre-i9fI know a guy that can get you some PowerQuery

[@ericthiel4053]

​@@TGre-i9f I'd say if your new to excel, and are unable to take a class, you tube has some pretty fantastic videos on how to work it and make the spreadsheets you need, plus anything else you want to learn on Microsoft office. Repetition is key, so make sure to use it often, and you'll get the swing of it over time.

[@FujiRelax]

@@TGre-i9f Lotus 4

[@RamiSobhani]

you should make youtube videos of your lessons

[@scienceisnotdead]

Microsoft had to target the most creative, intelligent and innovative people in the market: those of us who wait till the very last moment to finish the job.

[@mpup54]

they also had to kill Quattro Pro in the process 😞

[@francoisbyvoet]

@@mpup54 I remembre that there was lot of nice extra feture in Quattro Pro. My Father did even insisted that it was THE spreadsheet we needed for our small familly business ... But we now the rest of the storry : more and more integration with other Office tools and move to 365 did kill all competitors except Google Sheet

[@george60m38]

i currently have 2 exams tomorrow and plan to spend the rest of my free time tonight studying. its also 7pm

[@JQuickDraw]

As f**ked up as it may seem to those who aren't built that way, some people just perform better under pressure.

[@NishitDave]

Our creative juices only flow when we can actually taste the deadline.

[@LegendLength]

They actually did a great job showing the main features that people want from a product like that. It was pretty much the whole workflow for 99% of people who use it.

[@gordon1545]

One thing that ad could have shown to complete it would have been making a chart.

[@SalmonBucket]

What happen to those 1%

[@Chraan]

@@gordon1545 Charts in the early 90s version of Excel, what?

[@theIdlecrane]

Wow, no wonder people who work in offices have depression 😩

[@Sam-tx4jz]

Yeah fr

[@muneirovalibas6194]

Even in 2022, autofill is still fun and fantastic to use, just so satisfying to drag and see all the numbers appear.

[@snaeshaads8203]

And many, many people still aren’t aware of the feature.

[@angrydonut6998]

@@snaeshaads8203 Didnt knew until this vídeo lol

[@iwatchwithnoads7480]

@@angrydonut6998 take a free course online on Excel. It will open doors for you. I still remember when my intern days I was excel noob and wasted like a hundred hours manually trying to find trends

[@christopherbucher7017]

When it works ...

[@joevining2603]

I never even knew about it and I've been using Excel since '95 lol. Gotta check it out.

[@ShadowRM72]

This is one of the best commercials that i have seen in my life, truly. It's just impeccable, it's almost like watching a short film lol.

[@HouseOfFunQM]

It's really, really hard to exactly describe how ridiculously revolutionary this was when it came out.

[@HouseOfFunQM]

Think like “iPhone 4 launch”, but for overpriced business software

[@CynBH]

Was it? I remember making graphs and tables with Cricket Graph on a Mac in 1990 (2 years before Excel). But I don't remember much about how easy or difficult it was to use. I do know that when I did start using Excel (probably around 1995), it was similar enough to pick up quickly.

[@Trevor_Austin]

@@HouseOfFunQM Not even in the slightest. Spreadsheeting is was a way of recording values. Lotus 123 was the final iteration of text based spreadsheets. The future was to use a GUI to make the process easier and pack more functionality in without making it harder to drive. At the same time every other app would would the same way. Lotus Developments Corp. did not think this was the way to go and thus failed miserably to predict the future. They had personal briefings and very private briefings from both Apple and Microsoft. They purchased many SDK’s to develop GUI products and could have been a competitor. But as I said earlier, they didn’t think Windows or Apple had a future.

[@Adroyo]

It wasn’t.

[@costiqueR]

Most people do not understand that man can do almost anything related to engineering with it...

[@DefHamster]

It’s kinda wild that, 30 years later, those features work pretty much exactly the same in modern Excel. They nailed it from day one.

[@beetdiggingcougar]

Most of my co-workers still can't do this.

[@surquhart64]

"If it ain't broke, no need to fix it".....quite a few things in life could learn from this formula 😁

[@zabaleta66]

Everyday mathematics is still the same.

[@xiaoka]

Visicalc and Lotus 1-2-3 were like 10+ years old by the time this came out.

[@joshgribbon8510]

Part of me agrees because there's a lot of similar stories in computing, Excel is basically a relational database which is another idea that stuck around for a really long time. Part of me also thinks we might just be locked into trying to be backwards compatible with the tech and with what people expect. I think of all the cool user interface designs from the 90s and how standardized everything is now - I'm not sure if we're really approaching an overall peak as much as some local maximum

[@tralphstreet]

Props to Microsoft Excel for single-handedly carrying the whole Microsoft Office suite.

[@voiceofreason2674]

facts every other program from Microsoft is dookie cakes

[@MrTiktok4]

@@voiceofreason2674 Office? powerpoint? Yall tripping MS office still the king

[@voiceofreason2674]

@@MrTiktok4 Google slides is way better

[@Perjorativeterm]

@@voiceofreason2674 slides is trash let's be real.

[@SanNico]

I've made architectural designs on powerpoint.

[@MrLix83]

I remember first time learning Excel in my computer class back in 2003/2004. Twenty years later, I'm still using it everyday in my personal and professional life. Thank you Excel. 09/27/2023

[@dralger]

Did you never try another spreadsheet? I don't like Excel. I use spreadsheets since 30 years.

[@Paras-ot2qo]

@@dralger just get good

[@DavidBerglund]

​@@dralger I'm looking for alternatives to Excel (or at least modern Office 365 Excel). What do you recommend? Anything out there that only has the most essential features and runs faster and more efficiently? Excel-format compatibility is not a hard requirement. I considered running early Excel in Dosbox but I'm curious to hear about more options.

[@floppa9415]

This ad really makes me want to make a complex spreadsheet that has millions of rows and tables and is actually a relational database which is gonna haunt the company's backend devs for many years to come.

[@augustday9483]

😆

[@billwatcheshere]

🤣🤣🤣

[@BoilersRock]

you bastard! Sincerely A Backend Dev

[@cjohnson9211]

What do you mean relational database? Please explain...

[@augustday9483]

@@cjohnson9211 Relational databases are a common type of database system where records are tracked in a table which contains specific columns, with each record comprising a row of data. Ideally you'd use actual database software for doing this, such as SQL or its derivatives. However it is an all-too-common occurrence for companies to simply use a giant Excel doc as if it were a database. For various reasons, using Excel like this is terrible and it makes backend developers cry.

[@fergman3690]

Bateman would like this. The whole thing has a clear, crisp look, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the figures a big boost.

[@thereasonofall]

that's very cool Bateman, but that's nothing

[@justincase49]

It’s called Bone.

[@justincase49]

@Olivier Verdys some men just want to watch the world burn

[@NterpriseCEO]

The font's Sicilian Braille

[@riflesightsonme2120]

I actually got American Psycho vibes from this commercial.

[@rohitcr2k]

30 years later... Excel is still the main player for companies. Thoroughly enjoyed this video.

[@McBobX]

In fact, that is the point of innovations :)

[@truthbtold1392]

Im sure you did! There is no doubt in my mind that you THOROUGHLY enjoyed this video. Excel is the best!!!!!!!!

[@judodono]

Im not old enough to know what a professional world without excel looked like

[@achim8239]

The world's most important ERP software is not SAP, Oracle or similar stuff, but MS Excel.

[@TickleMeElmo55]

@getting better lol no. Big Four accounting firms use Excel religiously.

[@akashrathore-storyteller261]

This is how the ads should be. No fancy music,no fast video jumps. Only real content😊

[@MemphisOFICIAL777]

I agree, this is a COOL commercial

[@VeknesWaran]

30 years and there is always that guy with a slingbag and bicycle helmet. Those guys never die.

[@TheKaMeLRo]

Is it not the same when we still see people still wear suit? lol

[@jansteinerbach]

Until they actually DO, crushed by an SUV.

[@DennyBuoy]

Yup!

[@colinpierre3441]

The real question is why was he heading to the 60th floor of a business place??

[@VeknesWaran]

@@colinpierre3441 I have no idea my dude. Probably he owns the place.

[@pirateg3cko]

Impressive. Very nice. Let's see Paul Allen's spreadsheet.

[@stevensutton4677]

Look at the subtle drag and drop function. The tasteful table red-blue colour scheme. Oh my god it even has currency formatting.

[@kirawr8064]

@@stevensutton4677 underrated af

[@extraglutenplz3758]

jesus that was slick

[@feelincrispy7053]

@@stevensutton4677 not bad, not bad at all

[@toybugcarl]

This whole thread FTW! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@graytonw5238]

This...this was the decade for me. I was a hard-core Lotus 123 fan and built spreadsheets for my company, but when Excel hit the scene and I begrudgingly made the change, it opened a whole new world. I've been involved with the reporting, programming and database world since the 80s, but the decade of the 90s was the most enjoyable as far as my career. I was getting better by leaps and bounds with Excel, building simple databases, digging under the hood of our company's midrange computer, and just having a hell of a good time overall. It was an exciting time of discovery when the industry was still relatively new and possibilities seemed endless. Then I got moved into system support and it all went to hell. 🙂

[@Gositi]

Databases using excel?

[@DarkGT]

@@Gositi If the scale of the data is small. SQL for larger volumes and better organization.

[@Gositi]

@@DarkGT still tho: ew

[@DarkGT]

@@Gositi Agree, asking for troubles if you use as database.

[@mrjooxmanallah]

Lotus 1,2,3: all I remember were the weird looking boxes. I first used Excel in college in 1994. Got indoctrinated early.

[@abdullahazimshah9220]

The actress Jan Brehm is looking gorgeous ❤ just like Excel's spreadsheets used to look when they first came out in the late 90's and still are.

[@jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii]

Women just love to be compared with Excel spreadsheets.

[@Trevor_Austin]

I was working for Microsoft in the UK between 1983 and 1989. During that time I was working with the early alpha and beta copies of Excel and Word on the Apple Mac and was the main demonstrator both behind closed doors and in public when released. These were great times because nobody had better products.

[@TT-bm2kd]

So how do you like the evolution of excel so far?

[@MrFaceeatingcancer]

You must be very proud of yourself it is quite an accomplishment👍

[@metacube9913]

Literally no one makes Office products lol

[@Barbie4U2]

That’s a pretty cool story

[@gianluca.g]

You sir and Mr Bricklin basically allow the modern world to exist. Let it sink in for a moment.

[@SK-le1gm]

Ad actually explains the product while managing to stay humorous, hard to do with software. Nice job 👍🏽

[@webfactorysolutions]

yeah, but it lasted over 4 minutes

[@codinganarchy25]

@@webfactorysolutions most ads were about that length back in the 90s, today’s ads are barely 30 seconds due to people’s attention span not lasting long

[@bigoled4929]

@@codinganarchy25 I think this is a bit glorified, majority of ads weren't that long back then, I'd rather define this as a crossover between an ad and an introductory vid. I however do agree that in tendency ads definately were longer, or let's say more slow-paced than it is generally the case nowadays.

[@codinganarchy25]

@@bigoled4929 my apologies, you are definitely more correct! Slow paced is the right word here

[@bigoled4929]

@@codinganarchy25 no apologies necessary mate! Wasn't meant as being arrogantly corrective^^ but thanks for tolerating that point!

[@syedosamahussain2801]

I do 10 year financial projections within an hour and I’m still unemployed. This dude is something else

[@r.m10234]

Be a superman. Companies want a superman.

[@Mark73]

The difference is that he's living in 1992 where this is black magic, and not Future Year 2022 where there's a clone of it as a free online service.

[@bahadrtaspinar4575]

@@Jacob0481 LMAOO

[@tejasbhagat4444]

you didn't do it in a lift

[@ibrahimismail5831]

90s

[@patriciamycyk]

This is the most inspiring content on all of KZbin.

[@AMITHOG]

This video shows a number of things that we take for granted. Hats off to the MS Excel Developers 🎉

[@mtlicq]

MS bought out the true developers of that, LOTUS 1-2-3 and MS Word was Word Perfect from Ottawa

[@dubbro]

You mean like... Jobs?

[@pH7screwtube]

@@mtlicq Not quite accurate. MS copied Lotus and word perfect.

[@pH7screwtube]

@@dubbro If you are referring to Steve Jobs....... He was a salesman, not a developer. Woz was the developer.

[@claudeb3673]

I like how the old commercials were more complete than todays tutorials lol 😆

[@BigMTBrain]

Surely, this was one of those extended Super Bowl-type commercials, not a regular one. Even then, running a long-form commercial at any frequency greater than rarely was cost-prohibitive, even for the likes of a Microsoft. I'm sure they created and ran 15- and 30-second edits of this regularly, with the rare sprinkling of the long-form version.

[@adammccabe640]

There is no today, there wasn't yesterday

[@Lizard1582]

@@adammccabe640 shutup stoner

[@alo2838]

@@BigMTBrain o

[@bpisbp2]

they couldn't flip channels then

[@57thorns]

""She wants a ten percent increase, so let's give her that." Some things never change when it comes to spreadsheets and presentations.

[@atypicalgeek88]

I was waiting for Wilson to say, "These numbers look too perfect" as she continued burning holes in their souls with that gaze...

[@Eric-xh9ee]

@Issan Cali Reject that's what I was thinking. She always wants it bigger 😉

[@animateddepression]

“That bitch wants to see simple math. Let’s show her that.”

[@shawnmulberry774]

New title: "How to cook the books in minutes with Microsoft Excel"

[@lynskyrd]

STILL, to this day... more fiction is written in Excel than Word.

[@TheMundusvultdecipi]

I love Excel. Over 20 yrs ago I once created a payroll accounting on Excel for close to 50 employees, pivot table, consolidated sheet, controlling...you name it. The company I created it for had a nutty payroll system with tons of benefit and deduction positions so that a top professional accounting software had trouble to include them as I found out when I inquired with a software firm so this ev. gave me the idea to try to create a system in Excel in the first place. All pay slips came from Excel, social security statements at the end of year plus I could export data to fill out withholding tax forms. I still had to book the consolidated numbers manually in a dirt cheap very flexible accounting software but that was not much of work. I later gave it to 2 smaller company founders who had planed to buy some standard payroll accounting software for 3-4k (plus they yearly contract fees for upgrades, support & other nonsense they sell you) and they were enthusiastic after using it a few months. You can do so much complex stuff with Excel, it never ceased to amaze me!

[@Scott-got-caught]

Too long. Nobody cares. I promise

[@carlerikkopseng7172]

​@@Scott-got-caughtwrong. Some can read

[@mtzkid261]

So many people take Microsoft Excel for granted. The people who first developed the software are geniuses🙏🏻

[@eng3d]

Visicalc guys? That later lotus stole the idea, then quattro stole them and bill gates stole all of them

[@hakageryu307]

Tell me you're desperate for positive validation without telling me you're desperate for positive validation. Sit on your prayer emoji and spin and when you're done go learn how to code instead of acting like everything you can't do is simply "Magic".

[@mtzkid261]

@@hakageryu307 I can just tell you don’t have many friends 😂😂😂😂

[@auslegungssache]

@@hakageryu307 bruh

[@tonymudau3005]

Lol that's so mean dude

[@randomitaliano6274]

Can't believe Excel hasn't changed much but the design in 30 years. It's still ahead of its time. You can always learn something new everytime you use it. It's genius...

[@ststst981]

I was surprised to hear him say "autofill", i thought that was a new feature

[@DrJRMCFC]

I guess you never saw Wingz. Now that was ahead of its time

[@tonytinder2627]

As an accountant i would rather find a new career than to do accounting without excel

[@killthecardinals]

Excel has changed considerably. You should see the built-in formulas available now vs back then. Maybe the basic features have not changed too much, but under the hood, Excel is light-years ahead of what it used to be.

[@NckMrrtt]

Yes. Let's give thanks to..... Visicalc

[@josephpark6502]

Had a friend in physics class who asked me come with a calculator to help him calculate all the lab data he had for a class he had in an hour. That's when I showed him the magic of excel. His reaction from doubtful worry to amazement was priceless.

[@Patrickdaawsome]

what year?

[@tanbirnr2389]

Probably 90s or 2000s

[@sebfox2194]

@@Patrickdaawsome 2021!

[@gdgd5194]

It's 2022 you bafoons. Don't you have a calendar or something

[@divadnevets9835]

I calculate all my numbers in paper and pencil (without calculator because I lost mine) until my sister introduce me Excel bruhh!! She also said that my laptop also had in built calculator lmao! And that is 2020, the year I first use laptop for the first time in my university lol. Now I understand why people called me a 80's nerd lol!

[@doublebanana-de3dt]

Thank you for sharing this! I would have been 5 years old when this video was created...So it's quite a miracle to watch this 34 years on. And this is software that virtually all of us take for granted and still use today and I definitely use all those features and more that they used in the lift :) Ps. You know I've never actually seen a laptop using Windows 3.1!

[@ninestar968]

I‘m wondering, if laptop batteries could last that long in 1992.

[@Mario_N64]

They actually lasted a lot for the technology at the time, because graphics were simple and they had little power.

[@ninestar968]

@@Mario_N64 makes sense, didn‘t think about that.

[@paulorufalco]

@@ninestar968 and about planned obsolescence?

[@AndyK.1]

@@Mario_N64 No WiFi either.

[@LeonisYT]

@@AndyK.1 also there's no way they aren't fitting a decent battery in that massive shell

[@joerogers9626]

Props to the person that shot, edited and formatted this promotional film in the elevator on their way up to the 9.00am 'How to market Microsoft Excel' meeting.

[@LongTran-em6hc]

And edited it on Adobe Premiere Is that even around back then?

[@Domihork]

Imagine living in a world where this is considered impressive... How did people even do things before Excel?!

[@connor107]

Paper and adding machines, excel took over for a good reason haha

[@1.N.Decent]

Lotus 1-2-3

[@z140140]

Lotus 1-2-3 worked in text mode, so it probably doesn't have similar formatting facilities and you should use presentation graphics if you need nice presentation

[@seion5497]

my father was an auditor i remember him using big sheets of paper to write and calculate financial stuff( sales,taxes,profits,...) some of them were as big as a table, and the worst part was when he made a small mistake. he had to write the whole thing from start because those spreadsheets were to be presented to investors and had to look pretty. he had this huge library of books published by government explaining how different things must be calculated (and got updated almost every year) AND LOTS of calculators he loved using calculators. around the time i went to school everything changed, the first versions of excel were being used, internet was there to help when needed, things got much easier

[@M_McFly]

@@seion5497 VisiCalc was released in 1979 (when the Internet was mostly unknown.) I remember using it. Your father was just a bit slow on the uptake...

[@riggs20]

I didn’t know you could move a chart by highlighting and dragging it. Thanks for this mini Excel lesson! 😄

[@riggs20]

@@TheViSi-vc6je Better late than never! 😂

[@MCVessels]

@@riggs20 My spreadsheet doesn't do that!

[@WithASideOfFries]

A tale of determination in spite of all the odds. Truly a hero’s journey.

[@faxepl]

Peter Jackson should make a sequel

[@somethingelse516]

What a time to be an executive Vice President

[@hmartinspliff]

One spreadsheet to rule them all. I'm not sure I can crunch the numbers, Samwise Gamgee....you can, Mr. Frodo, you can!

[@oluwatoyinbabata8770]

With the boon of a business deal

[@windhoek_stallion8455]

I just finished giving a community college class on Excel as part of a continuing ed management program. I spent 30 minutes teaching a 55 year old man how to build a table like the one in this ad and I could see his eyes light up and also a sense of loss because of the years spent without these skills. I'm a trained engineer and teach courses as a side gig. Excel has been my go-to tool through engineering school, through my masters... through all my jobs. It's helped me plan family finances, run a business. It's had as profound an impact on my life as the automobile, internet and the smart phone yet Excel is not nearly as heralded. I feel the programmers that put this wonder together deserve a place in our collective hearts right next to Steve Jobs, Larry Page and Sergei Brin.

[@flesz_]

True

[@gert-jank8992]

True

[@LoSpotItaliano]

True. Let’s see how many other trues you’ll get.

[@SurajkumarMundra]

True!

[@c.g.vonhagenstein7576]

I'll see your "True"'s and raise you a "True dat!"

[@shara30000]

It seems ridiculous from the ad, but honestly Excel remains one of the most versatile tools I've used in my ~6 years of work experience so far. It can do enough

[@ChinaChuck]

@@ProphetAndLoss I started with the spreadsheet tool that came in Microsoft Works before learning Excel. I remember always wanting to try Lotus 1-2-3.

[@jamesmorgan1800]

Hello friend, How are you doing today

[@livingdivinity6275]

Ok, you have worked for six years. Now get married.

[@jamesmorgan1800]

@@livingdivinity6275 Hello friend, How are you doing 😌 I hope this year brings happiness, joy , and peace all over the world, I’m from Key West Florida and you where are you form if I may ask? I’ve been living in Key West for 30years now?

[@sucktitles]

@@livingdivinity6275 why?

[@Paralianpoet]

Whoever invented the excel is a genius

[@ferenc-x7p]

Charles Simonyi- Hungarian inventor, also went to space to the ISS at one time. The entire Office bundle was his and his team's creation. Just google search his name if in doubt.

[@brdane]

Excel was software incorporating digital spreadsheets. The digital spreadsheet itself was created by Dan Bricklin.

[@alotofbaddecisions2046]

1992: If you can do a simple spreadsheet, you get a 6-figure job. 2022: You need to be proficient in python, javascript, R, c++, CSS, frontend, backend, data architecture, machine learning to be considered for this unpaid intern position

[@jbosco3970]

actually if can master excel you still have a job at 100K - of course there is a lot more to master but don't under estimate how valuable knowing excel is. if you had to learn just one tool master excel.

[@gmshadowtraders]

How's it hangin today? 🤣

[@OrinjFlames]

What you need to say you know to get a job, and what you actually do at the job are two very different things.

[@justbored3.14]

if you can do a spread sheet without excell yeah. it's simple with good software.

[@ezscootrr]

Haha. Currently doing an unpaid intern for flutter.

[@bobbyricigliano2799]

30 years later, the biggest limitations of the MS Office suites are the actual end users who never go beyond the most basic features.

[@eduardoa3165]

😂😂😂 as a helpdesk tech i approve this message

[@waschosen-]

These days, people tend to use Excel for taking notes or simple as a makeshift phone book.

[@srgk26]

@@waschosen-Yep, anything more complex than simple record taking, we should be using databases and/or python/R or similar.

[@Gabytron]

Literally having to show people these functions in 2024

[@jokijuna2183]

Yes... You can still make Pacman game in macros nowadays.

[@miltonhayek2494]

Jump to 2022 when your Spreadsheet is 18 tabs, auto filling from different parts on the network, and loaded with integrated VB script. When I started my current job I knew about as much as this guy in the video. Then I realized business is still running on this stuff. It's amazing that this is still powering business.

[@tapwater424]

At some point just use a database

[@captainfancypants4933]

@@tapwater424 Sometimes a database is definitely needed, but for smaller projects excel is amazing

[@tapwater424]

@@captainfancypants4933 It's probably a sign to move away from spreadsheets when you have to use integrated VB scripts, 18 tabs and network synchronization to do business.

[@techwithdave]

I used to use VB script until I discovered Python. Corey Schafer (I feel) is the best teacher, if you are interested kzbin.info/aero/PL-osiE80TeTskrapNbzXhwoFUiLCjGgY7

[@miltonhayek2494]

@@tapwater424 I'm not disagreeing. But that isn't up to guys like me. And these companies don't often see the long game. Actually we just left som of our automation to go back to Excel because the third party software costs where too high. Using Excel they can just fill it in then use script to bring it in.

[@zaftra]

loved those old boxes, you felt you had something.

[@StanDemoine1973]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYivfpWjdttjqsksi=nUdRCoa7I-ursZ9T

[@2tri749]

Honestly, I didn't even KNOW AutoFill was a thing since the beginning of Excel, I always thought it was a recent feature, to have that from the beginning is freaking smart, good work Microsoft!

[@crashpal]

Auto fill is one of the best gifts. You have no idea how much time it saves

[@mdony722]

I am suprised the professional design template had been there that long

[@MartiensBezuidenhout]

I always thought they copied Autofill from Google Sheets haha

[@MaDrung]

@@MartiensBezuidenhout Google did not even exist then lol.

[@MartiensBezuidenhout]

@@MaDrung yeah I am aware of that hehe... I only started using the autofill function in Excel after usign it on Google sheets and then trying it in Excel also. For some reason I just assumed it was a new feature - I had no idea its been part of Excel for this long, hence my comment.

[@Z3R0CO0LnESS]

The last shot of those boxes got me all nostalgic for the excitement of PC software back in the day. Opening those big boxes with diskettes, then eventually CDs, with all the manuals and inserts inside was like opening a present

[@MafistoPL]

exactly

[@mikedenby6771]

You had to be there! I even remember how big the box for the original Quake game was

[@PastPresentFuture360]

So very true. Nostalgia!

[@HeyhitmeBAM]

@@mikedenby6771 it was like a textbook lol

[@HeyhitmeBAM]

@@rsh650 lol whoosh

[@khari_baat]

Microsoft excel is probably one of the best software created. Kudos to the entire team.

[@transatlant1c]

agreed. I know there are other equivalents (some good, some bad), but I can't think of many pieces of software more ubiquitous than 'word' and 'excel'.

[@whitleypedia]

seriously - it atones for a lot of Microsoft's many shortcomings otherwise

[@ladakhhardaar950]

There is no "probably" about this - MS Excel is infact the most popular software product of all time

[@rockstardonut777]

@@ladakhhardaar950 ever heard of windows?

[@iBlue0riginal]

Yeah, except for the part where scientists had to rename some genes, because Excel mistook them for dates...

[@wli2718]

i just want everyone to know that i am so impressed by this commercial and what Excel was able to do, I actually went and found myself a copy of Excel 4.0 that was featured in this ad. and this is in the year 2024. also, contrary to the title of this video, the product is correctly shown as Excel 4.0, but the year of release was actually 1992, which is also the year shown in the video. and kudos to the engineers who managed to build a software with so much of the Excel features of today, but doing this back in 1992 and a total file size limit of 6MB, fitting inside 4 x 3.5 inch floppy disks

[@vaportrails7943]

In case anyone is wondering, this is an ad for Excel 4.0. The first version was released for Mac in 1985, which came after a spreadsheet program called Multiplan that Microsoft released in 1982.

[@TheDoomer666]

I'm so mind-blown! Like, some sort of Excel already existed in the '82? Because, 5 minutes ago, I was shocked to see this was an ad for Excel in 1992! when I thought the very first Windows with GUI was '95. I said _no way_ people used spreadsheets when all they had was ms-dos. I was so wrong in many levels...

[@vaportrails7943]

@@TheDoomer666 Correct - spreadsheets existed before/without GUI. Also, Windows and MacOS came out in the 80s, and both used GUIs from the start. Go see if you can find the original Macintosh announcement event with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. You might find it interesting.

[@TheDoomer666]

@@vaportrails7943 thanks, will do.

[@Dxeus]

I was not even born yet.... Dang!!

[@henryl5174]

Multiplan! Great pull.

[@r.j.w7924]

Arguably the single most important and influential software application ever developed.

[@obediahpolkinghorniii564]

…second only to Minesweeper.

[@r.j.w7924]

@@obediahpolkinghorniii564 I mean...I thought that was implied.😂

[@BlakeMcCringleberry]

It's a spreadsheet, a database, a word processor, a note taking system, and a flight simulator!

[@TwentyNineJP]

@@BlakeMcCringleberry here in Japan it's often used in place of word processors, and you'll find the occasional person using it just to hold images 😅

[@w.k8624]

@@BlakeMcCringleberry Now we know why it slows down the computer so much.😀

[@roguespartan2854]

30 years later, it is the global standard software for businesses and accounting, and pretty much anybody can use it. I use Excel all the time for so many things other than accounting.

[@MuffinMachine]

Even though I do not work in a field that uses this heavily, I am always shocked at the amount of people who do not even understand that one must press Enter to stop editing the cell. I thought everyone could use excel as well, but I promise you there are many adults today who have never imagined even this archaic level of complexity in a spreadsheet.

[@moiseskerschener2634]

why not google sheets?

[@Xerion404]

@@moiseskerschener2634 because excel can do way more

[@thudthud5423]

I have always said that you could make Excel literally talk to you. Given the number of audio files its linked to and the right formulas and macros, an Excel spreadsheet COULD talk to you.

[@SpltPersonaltyOF]

@@moiseskerschener2634 It's almost like one existed for much longer than the other... Also, OP is used to using Excel and therefore knows the interface better than Google Sheets.

[@razzletox]

just reminded me of an incredible journey of exploring computers and software back in 2000s. very much same interface.

[@paulmorrow8372]

I don’t think people realize how much the entire global financial system is built upon the back of Excel.

[@maxymum7]

Those who know, they do. That's all the cognizance required.

[@jbosco3970]

not just finance - lots of Fortune 500 companies are.

[@gmshadowtraders]

It still is bruh lol. Entire trading platforms and risk management software are built on the back of Excel VBA with C++.

[@charless1403]

@@gmshadowtraders legacy ones for legacy banks

[@cessposter]

@@charless1403 if you deal with money VBA and COBOL are still the best languages. It has support for floating point numbers, unlike Java or Python.

[@mangobrother]

What propelled Apple stock was the spreadsheet app VisiCalc which came out in 1979. I remember seeing a black/white picture of a building with 4 floors. This was in 1966. Ford Motor Company rented that building for their budgeting process. All the room contained blackboards. Each board represented a sheet with numbers. If a number changed, accountants would go from board to board, room to room, floor to floor to reflect the respective changes. The building was a spreadsheet! We have come a long way indeed.

[@lieutenantshibby]

Are you joking

[@anildharni]

I couldn't find any info online about ford opening a building for doing spreadsheet calculations. How certain are you about this being true? Can you please point me to some link regarding this? I want to use this somewhere else.

[@johnchristian7788]

Interesting! Can anyone post links to the article?

[@Tekknorg]

Read Kobo Abe's The Bet.

[@originalm3233]

@@lieutenantshibby This person is not joking. Go watch videos or read about the impact VisiCalc made. Research Dan Bricklin. There used to be teams upon teams of people doing manual processes before computers really took hold. Some of these manual processes continued even after mainframe computers were purchased by large corporations. There was still a huge amount of physical paperwork and manual processes. It really took specialized software and microcomputers (PCs) to start to erase all of the old school stuff.

[@LCTesla]

guy: copy pastes other guys: WHAT IS THIS WITCHCRAFT

[@charliedays]

LOL! It was such a new invention back then.😂 And it hasn't been long, honestly. I believe half a century ago or less is still very recent.🙂

[@altcodex5625]

Some things are taken for granted with time when it's becomes so easy it's almost like an instinct 🤣.

[@cheesebusiness]

It was 1992, you weren’t even born

[@russellmj]

In the mid nineties my boss (RIP) had the first notebook I had ever seen. About 16lbs with the mouse on the side like that. Fast forward to 1998, I bought my first laptop. A fujitsu with I think 32mbs of RAM. I got Office and started learning Excel. Next thing I was creating work schedules, maint. schedules, Inspection forms, cost estimates, anything I can think of to make things easier. Others started seeing this and using my stuff throughout the wider company and my star began to rise... Thank you Excel! Oh, and just like the commercial, my immediate boss had me create something for him and then took credit...

[@cjxgraphics]

Now it's hard to imagine a world without Excel, Word, Outlook, etc. Microsoft has absolutely owned the world's business sector for decades.

[@thisisneeraj7133]

You said it right

[@MarsFKA]

Then, along came the free iWork for Mac, with Pages, Numbers and Keynote and out went Word and Excel, for which I had been paying an extortionate annual fee. The great thing about all my Word and Excel files was they were accessible by iWork, so I lost nothing.

[@anth636]

Nowadays I’d say Google Workspace has become more popular for casual work, due to it being free and having cloud share. But yes, MS Office is still dominating business.

[@kurse5225]

@@MarsFKA Plus libreoffice.

[@droneshotsantoine1805]

Excel is outdated

[@Fummy007]

1:07 he sounds like Patrick Bateman I can just imagine him saying: "I think with the Office Suite, Microsoft really came into their own, commercially and artistically. the whole suite has a clear crisp design and a new sheen of consumate professionalism that really gives the final product a big boost."

[@megapure4667]

Came here looking for this

[@retardray5701]

Got pretty much the same feeling from this! "Let's see Paul Allen's spreadsheet" and so forth...

[@uwu-jv2jn]

3:16 is pure bateman

[@souza7107]

was the first thing that came into my mind

[@rbasket8]

The ad has all the American Psycho vibe, aura

[@ShortHax]

Excel is great for text messaging too

[@ababycow]

lol

[@UtentessaMascherata]

No matter what I do

[@P3nguin12]

reference of the year

[@HanselHoeffer]

Kelly Rowland and Nelly can confirm.

[@AscKn]

My spreadshit doesn't do that

[@JohnGaltAustria]

Thank you for showing me features I didn't even know existed. Excel is still the graveyard of intuitive design.

[@Fuzzfooger]

I'm still trying to get my head round how easy this guy's job is even if he didn't have excel to help

[@IISourAyyII]

27 years later we are still using it daily

[@kuljahanproductions4587]

we are? where

[@MrMerithra]

@@kuljahanproductions4587 here on Earth

[@jimmybaldbird3853]

@@MrMerithra you guys here from algorithm too?

[@lookupverazhou8599]

@@jimmybaldbird3853 What algorithm. There is no way in hell this should ever have been recommended to me..

[@xNamsu]

@@kuljahanproductions4587 the finance industry is literally built on excel. The people working in banking need to know how to use it without a mouse to be able to work efficiently. They are insanely dependent on it.

[@danalawton2986]

A combination of knowing what people wanted, great programming, common sense and a simple approach.

[@Smoke1]

I was in high school in the mid 90s, and I remember them teaching us about this. All this was cool and all, but what blew my mind was the fact that it can automatically make graphs out of table data - you can even pick and choose the graph types and colours. For a while I used to make graphs for entertainment. Another eye opener was the formulas. If you use Excel for work, learn how to use formulas - they're super powerful and employers love hiring people who understand them. That said, they're pretty tough to learn and you forget them if you don't practice them .

[@rogeriopenna9014]

Are there people who don't know how to use formulas, pivot tables, data connections, query, etc?

[@rakohus]

@@rogeriopenna9014 Yea, 99.9% of humans

[@easypimpin123]

If you can’t do an auto sum on excel then there’s no way I would hire you. The table he made in this video is the easiest thing I’ve ever seen. And they all act so amazed at the simplest task. Lol

[@veeeks2938]

@@rogeriopenna9014 Me probably. I used to use excel very heavily in an old post, circa 2002. I think the trauma of having to deal with several years of data fried my brain lol (I had to keep years of timesheet data on excel and hardcopy and produce formulae that could identify potential trends in absence data. I probably still have it sitting on a floppy somewhere). This is not to denounce Excel by any means. I remember writing lab reports for my chem degree on a janky electronic word processor in the 90s. Creating graphs on it was interesting to say the least, and excel seemed like a breath of fresh air (when I got access to the IT Labs)

[@rogeriopenna9014]

@@rakohus if it's so rare, I should earn more haha

[@quantika7007]

In India, we learnt how to align TV antennas to catch Doodrdarshan properly and that was the smartest thing on can do in a society in 1990s

[@srigorakhnath1297]

😂😂😂 true

[@sharonpriya2656]

Coursera brought me here as well!! Thanks to Coursera for wonderful light-hearted fun for the Excel learners.

[@SpotWorksLNC]

Excel is the greatest program ever that I only learned how to use within the last two years… and I have been in business since 1997. Live and learn…

[@joeybaseball7352]

My spreadsheet doesn't do that.

[@LYNXzTwist]

I have zero experience in coding but I love the formulas in excel, you can make tables that do pretty much anything with data, I work in accounts and I've managed to make my job pretty much automated purely from excel, what a great tool

[@hughoxford8735]

What's a coder? I would say you were a coder.

[@parthsood3039]

Wait till you discover pandas on python.

[@BrianDorsey]

You’re absolutely coding already. Excel is the runtime environment, and the cells are inputs and outputs to the functions you’re writing in the formulas. If you can keep track of what’s going on in a spreadsheet, you can definitely learn other coding languages and environments too.

[@iwatchwithnoads7480]

You don't have "zero experience". That *is* coding. Coding doesn't always mean writing in a language that compiles in low level.

[@maras3naraz]

Oh yes, formulas and algorithm

[@Aleshotgun]

At 2:33 when he said "the PC got run over by a bus and you're lucky to be alive" the guy with the cyclist helmet on the back's face was like "yeah I know that" lol those commercials were pure genius even in those little details

[@mattc9598]

I like how they used the most simple spreadsheet ever "So as you can see, Tennis is 1000. BUT, in Q2, Tennis will be 1100. At the same time, Golf will be 2200 and Safari will be 3300"

[@grizzomble]

They didn't even do any research, everyone in the biz knows Safari is 3750

[@urmama54]

i see this as elo ratings required to do 'xyz' in each quarter

[@munsifhusni7745]

@@grizzomble 🤣😂🤣😂🤣

[@Jahu-qs2us]

In my experience Tennis in Q2 tends to be 1150. So this ad snt really accurate.

[@evonne315]

I'll take Safari for 3300 Trebek!

[@u.s.a.198]

30 years ago... I worked with a chemistry scientist that told me "Excel does and will do, more than any of us will ever be able to use it for!" Smart man..

[@damiengates7581]

Better off using Java or Python

[@vista9434]

@@damiengates7581 Why reinvent the wheel?

[@AirIsLungFood]

I think that is a round about way of saying it has a bunch of useless features...

[@shubhnamdeo2865]

This ad does not have any digital super stylish transitions but it can convey the purpose far better than the current generation of advertisements.

[@none-qs3sl]

Because it actually demonstrates the application and its capabilities albeit in a unrealistic situation. Modern ads cant convey their purpose, have obnoxious royalty free music, and makes you pissed off.

[@shubhnamdeo2865]

@@none-qs3sl Yeah.

[@polymetric2614]

yeah, a lot of filmmakers have certainly forgotten the core principles of filmmaking in lieu of stuff like that, but the funny thing is is that's always been a thing, look at the original star wars where george lucas was going crazy with those windows movie maker style wipe transitions of course that doesn't mean you should do it, i usually prefer simplicity in technique

[@thejanssen6030]

Right, because it's about 8 times as long as the current generation of videos

[@VincentTamer]

Love the cut to the bike messenger's face when he hears "you're lucky to be alive". Nice touch.

[@l8dawn]

Very cool seeing this. My dad worked as a consultant for Microsoft and taught some of the very first people how to use Excel and Word :)

[@scintillam_dei]

Bill Gates is evil.

[@fearone9694]

Homo habilis?

[@scintillam_dei]

@@fearone9694 My series on the Brits proves macro-evolution is impossible and racist fiction.

[@PossumMedic]

in an elevator I hope! 😂

[@JuanAntonioFiectroJr]

What was it like to live among the very first people?

[@janfrompolde]

The best part is that that is not actually a 10 % quarterly growth because Excel merely expanded the table using the same absolute differences as opposed to actually extrapolating the relative differences.

[@omnirhythm]

Stop it, there's not enough money in the world to pay for your wizardry and you'll trigger the collapse of economics as we know them.

[@RAMMY237]

Not the best, but yeah :) And who cares, by the way. None of the workers have idea about the numbers, except those Excel guy :D

[@OneFatStatue]

Glad I'm not the only one who noticed that!

[@dieterrosswag933]

If you would have wrote in English more ppl would have understood

[@xplodax]

@@dieterrosswag933 "If you had written", not "if you had wrote". Forget Excel, even your English is lacking! XD

[@bonemesly]

Good stuff! I remember shooting that in downtown Seattle.

[@janinewacker123]

You did a great job!

[@manasathamatani8614]

you were the suave cool guy!!!

[@charliedays]

@@janinewacker123 God, time really flies by! I'd be so fascinated if I was an actor in that commercial. Making part of a computer program that changed the world! Recommended by Coursera. Thanks so much for sharing this!🤗

[@romarssieverything9667]

woah!

[@shaunsteele8244]

nice... how did you land that gig?

[@hedwardrodriguez2538]

My gosh! The acting in this infomercial is incredible!!!

[@bluehugh2]

The trackball module on the laptop completes this whole scene of nostalgia so well

[@EXMachina.]

I'm impressed with that 90s laptop being able to click and drag those lines without causing a BSOD or overheat

[@dr.angerous]

I was actually expecting that for a moment, it looked like a parody but then I realized no that's not gonna happen it's a commercial xd

[@dzonikg]

Probably recorded in few tryes

[@benjaminmarcelocaballero1706]

Windows 3.1 was actually a very stable OS.

[@EXMachina.]

​@@benjaminmarcelocaballero1706 We are talking about a portable Computer in the late 90s, not a desktop.

[@justinhenryhaynes]

I'm impressed the fully charged battery didn't die before he got to the desk.

[@croplaya]

Man these guys just nailed that presentation!!! 4 lines that would've taken 20 min with a calculator! That was amazing! I bet that deal went through like a breeze. Man these guys are the real deal when you think of businessmen.

[@weikor6545]

funny because its an advertisement not an actual buisiness presentation!!!!

[@simonbolivar6960]

God damn I am relieved this hot shots are at the head of our financial institutions!

[@snatchadams69]

I got the Bakker account...

[@nativeafroeurasian]

20 minutes with a calculator? What kind of calculator are you using?

[@DUKEHadToDoItToEm]

Not even. I draw up tables like that by hand all the time for just regular everyday purposes and it takes 5 minutes or less

[@conorchristmas6844]

It’s amazing how advanced this was. I only started using excel for work in 2020 and it blew my mind.

[@Soumik.Naskar]

To think about it... After all the graphics evolution over the years, we actually use excel for exactly those above features that they made in pre '90s

[@mindblown1086]

Just noticed that the owner of this channel "Jan Brehm" is actually the actress in the video (the boss)!

[@janinewacker123]

You're right!

[@maxron6514]

@@janinewacker123 n1 gj

[@ycanito]

:O

[@alejandrob.4961]

@@janinewacker123 you are very pretty

[@anonytube1679]

@@alejandrob.4961 No, she is very short-haired, i.e., the opposite of pretty.

[@officialFredDurstfanclub]

It’s kinda odd to think that a piece of software that has become completely common place on most computers and is taken for granted by nearly everyone was such a game changing and revolutionary program back when it was released

[@gustavcarl]

what does "odd" mean?

[@talkshow69]

@@gustavcarl IKR, smartphones were looked upon as witchcraft when they were first released, given how flippant people are about their iPhone being a year old.

[@BabyBugBug]

@@gustavcarl look it up

[@BigBoss-rr4sw]

@@gustavcarl Weird. Strange. Funny. Freakish. You pick

[@lacku2677]

@@gustavcarl google is free dude

[@David_Crayford]

The *colour laptop* may have cost about £4,000 in 1990 and was cutting edge. [citation needed] I was studying computing in college. We had new Apple Mac's and 80286 PCs with monochrome CRT screens. My first spreadsheet was Lotus 1-2-3 or SuperCalc and ran on DOS using bendy 5.25" floppy disks [about 1.2 MB]

[@hamptonmanufacturing3566]

I miss the 90s. The world seems so full of hope and the future seemed bright.

[@zidpiero]

Amazing video! It's stunning how spreadsheets have changed the world... Thanks Dan Bricklin!

[@christophermckenzie7167]

He's got a bunch of videos on KZbin

[@janinewacker123]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@rinzler9775]

As a user of the original DOS version Lotus 123, being able to "just drag the table" really struck home.

[@MsTimelady71]

As a new graduate at first job in 1995, I had to learn Excel. I was amazed with the power that Excel had. Unfortunately my boss was old school and wouldn't change his Lotus spreadsheets until the CFO made him.

[@deepjyotichakraborty8739]

@@MsTimelady71 That's happening now also with people who do not want to move to Power BI or Python for more complex/data heavy applications!

[@_-_-.-_-_]

@@deepjyotichakraborty8739 MS Power BI has its greatness, especially for interactive data and widgets. However, it still not a one-stop shop. For complex and paginated reporting, you still need SSRS. As a matter of fact, you need both in an enterprise environment. I remembered interviewing a guy and it seems like that is the buzzwords these days like back in 1995 "MCSD". While I use both, I want to ask you, can MS Power BI create a legal document or nontabular format? I was converting several SSRS reports (not the standard tabular reports) but legal documents and data driven with SPs. I cannot reproduce that in MS Power BI. I have been working with reporting since 2000 (crystal reports). During that time, Microsoft Consultants came out to meet me and ask the flaws in their first generation of Microsoft Reporting Tool (known as today SSRS). The first generation was primitive. SSRS has came a long way. Yes, it lacks a lot of features that MS Power BI has covered. The biggest beauty of Microsoft Power BI is that it simplifies reporting so that the average Accounting, Finance, Marketing, etc... departments can create their own generic reports and share. This cuts down the workload for the basic reports and hence provide more time to work on reports that requires ETL/SSIS.

[@LegendLength]

absolute plebs

[@jimbeenee]

Don't even. My previous employer still used lotus products. And still do!

[@owlwiser]

Today, 2023 - June / Japan. I've been using MICROSOFT EXCEL since 1992, I love this program so much, in fact I love all the programs in the WORD package .... Tanks MICROSOFT, you guys are the bestl.

[@JoeBrandimarte]

I could watch this over and over and still be amazed at Greg’s mad excel skills.

[@Perfidion]

I'm also amazed at how slim, elegant and lightweight that laptop is.

[@NateMicallef]

Unlike his colleague, the non-believer!

[@valeenoi2284]

What's more impressive that MS Excel does the exact same thing 30 years later. Whichever team designed and implemented it should be given billions.

[@stevek8829]

The team would be divided among VisiCalc and Lotus 123. Lotus had this already out and in use.

[@alexarzamendi9475]

@@stevek8829 lotus was a steaming pile of garbage. Anybody who used it received excel as a godsend.

[@stevek8829]

@@alexarzamendi9475 how so? What did Excel bring in 1992 that 123 Windows didn't already have?

[@jakeplumber1373]

🤦‍♂️

[@robertlaw4073]

What a great throw-back. The clothes. The hair. The technological naivete. Even the box designs scream late 80s/early 90s. To appreciate what they were so astounded by, you have to remember that the mouse driven GUI had barely come into existent at this point; Windows 95 was still 3 years away. The spreadsheet software at large organizations was dominated massively by Lotus 123. Lotus 123 was a wonky "nerd" calculator that would compute but wasn't designed to look pretty. Even after IBM took over Lotus, rather than dilute the 123 "power user experience, IIRC they made parallel offerings which basically competed with each other. If you were a Wall Street quant or a NASA engineer, you would want 123. If you were a business person making charts for your boss, you'd want Lotus Calc. Meanwhile by then Microsoft was off to the races. Shortly after this phase, they started bundling Access with Excel so now you could really dig into massive amounts of data with Access and use Excel to do pulls and visually present summaries, highlights, etc. It's been so long, but that was definitely the pinnacle of MS Office. Lotus/Microsoft tried to emulate them but failed. In the database space, they were split between their Access competitor consumer-grade RDMS (can't remember what is was called) and their enterprise grade Lotus Notes platform.

[@Miketar2424]

Even if you were great with both spreadsheets, you just couldn't get a job unless you wore a padded suit with a flower in the pocket and a John Mellencamp haircut.

[@DrAmazing]

It's crazy looking back at how even simple things were revolutionary. When I was a kid I did all my reports on an early version of Word Perfect. (Which was pretty impressive at the time.) No mouse support so everything was keyboard shortcuts. We even had a little strip of paper that went across the top of the keyboard to help label all the function keys. First time I saw an early version of MS word, I was amazed. You could change the size or make it bold/underline and the font would actually display that right in the program.

[@robertlaw4073]

@@DrAmazing I got Word Perfect in college my freshman year around the time of this commercial and it was an absolute bug-fest - they did not transition well to the world of the GUI OS... but it did have mouse support and all the stuff old DOS WP didn't have. After college I went to work for IBM and they made us use some branded Lotus Office suite (I want to say "Smart Suite") and that also crashed all the time. The bottom line is that Microsoft won the office war by using its insider knowledge of the OS which it built. IBM realized this and was trying to do the same with OS/2, but as an organization, they were a mess and we know how that ended.

[@robertlaw4073]

@Bercilak de hautdesert The Xerox Alto was also many years earlier, which build the "desktop" metaphor. Then, ironically, sometime around 1990 Xerox actual launched their own GUI environment that functioned basically in the same way as Windows 3.x --- you ran it from dos with a shell comment. It was called Tabworks, and rather than a desktop metaphor (which I guess was old and boring to them) it was using the idea of tabs in a binder. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TabWorks I remember this one sales guy from IBM got really excited when he saw it... and then IBM basically went into restructuring mode and laid off tons of people. (First "voluntary separation" with a bonus, then basically a pink slip.) Microsoft's ascendance has a lot to do with IBM falling on its face.

[@jamesimmo]

I believe you due to the double spacing between sentences

[@immortalsun]

I love how Excel looks identical to this day. They got it perfect the first time ’round.

[@greennin]

I like how they produced basically 1/4 of a Seinfeld episode for this ad. And it’s actually pulls you in like a real show. Love the 90s

[@vivekkalra2107]

I didn't know these features existed 30 years ago. Kudos to the team that designed and developed it back then 🙂

[@GOTHICforLIFE1]

if you didnt know about this, then you most likely havent really used Excel either tbf - but yes, they were ahead of their time for sure

[@ZesPak]

@@GOTHICforLIFE1 That's a bit unfair, my first real run-ins with Excel were with Excel '97, I too was amazed seeing all of this was in there this early. Afaik '97 was the real breakthrough for office as THE go-to Office Suite.

[@latronix-omnigenus]

The good old days of arriving late and doing a last minute four row spreadsheet presentation that landed you business deals. Imagine how far they would have gotten if they showed her pivot tables?

[@sampokemppainen3041]

Back in the day we had computer class in junior high. After few years in vocational school i got my first job in live audio company, when i presented them just this kind of spreadsheet of custom made case dimensions. I am actually proud of myself since i immediately noticed that exel can calculate needed dimensions of material automatically after it knew what size of equipment the case needs to fit.

[@caseylee2739]

The aesthetic of this commercial is insane. I want the series lol

[@TheBundyworld]

This commercial got me thinking of how huge the technological advances were during 90's and 2000's. Today it seems simple but the autocomplete(or whatever it's called) featured was a huge thing back then. When I first saw google earth I was like: "Wow. I wonder if they will be able to provide street view of the buildings?". Today trees are provided as 3d models and you can walk inside lobbies of bigger buildings. Is this useful? Perhaps in some cases, but this proves that human brain can produce remarkable inventions when forced by sales department :)

[@allywithextral7960]

"When forced by sales department" ha! love it

[@chrisjohnson3967]

Yea, people love to discredit capitalism and corporate culture when in reality that hyper-competitive environment and spirit is what has given us 99.9% of the technological advancements and luxuries we have today. Then, centuries ago it would've been a person's ego that drove them to say, create the wheel or build Rome and so on.

[@Generalized615]

@@chrisjohnson3967 You are just wrong, most of what you listed exists because of government projects and government grants. Hell we wouldnt have computers, satellite photography, or mapping technology if not for the government.

[@MrAyushRaj1]

the last sentence is extremely thought provoking.

[@alfonsoriantino2467]

@@GarrishChristopherRobin777 the peace sales are much weaker than war sales

[@mattp12]

I can’t wait until this gets released, looks promising!

[@jeffspc88mx]

😆

[@M.Universe]

lol

[@codekulturbonn]

Maybe they could have fixed one or two crashes since then. Sadly also that they got bored and completely destroyed the user experience

[@stellviahohenheim]

Can't wait to watch friends and do coke

[@mattp12]

@@stellviahohenheim not same

[@AkbarNurPribadi]

3:54 what font is that?

[@ElEcodelTren]

Times new roman?

[@Trumpet-88mph]

Maybe ITC Kabel?

[@intensecutn]

Not sure, my spreadsheet doesn't do that.

[@kapok7228]

Apple Garamond