Dan Bricklin @danb@qoto.org
One of the VisiCalc guys, CTO Alpha Software, DBDemo, Trellix, blogger, podcaster, SocialCalc, iPad app: Note Taker HD, president of Software Garden, Inc.
Joined Nov 2022
Dan Bricklin
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@danb I probably still have a Software Garden product of yours somewhere, too... :-)
@dnanian Lucky you! I have some Lombards, and boxes with our S/W. Vern was a visionary in multiple spheres and collaborated with some interesting people and projects.
@jeffjarvis FYI: Harvard's Business School has graded on a curve for years. Practically, it was mainly a problem, as I recall, when you are at the bottom in too many classes. https://blog.cambridgecoaching.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-harvard-business-school
I just learned sad news that Vern Raburn, a pioneer in the early days of personal computing, died last month. He was instrumental in first getting Microsoft into apps. I worked with him at Slate, an early pen-computer S/W company. He was also a pioneer in aviation: https://www.ainonline.com/aviation-news/business-aviation/2026-04-29/very-light-jet-visionary-vern-raburn-dies-75-0 Here's my video of him and his jet factory last time I saw him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nynZ3mIzkEM May his memory be a blessing.
Dan Bricklin
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I can’t begin to tell you how much fun I had talking to people who were present at Apple’s creation—Woz, of course, but so many more. I learned so much, and really did feel like I was there. So will you, I think. Here’s a gift link which you’re welcome to share: https://www.fastcompany.com/91514404/apple-founding-50th-anniversary-apple-1-apple-ii-jobs-wozniak?mvgt=E5Loo3fO74zl
@davew Cool! Not surprising given how good Claude is on such things with a known interface. Did you try putting "=alert(5)" into a cell? Or "=JSON.stringify(data)"?
Dan Bricklin
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@EdSanders Thank for remembering that! 💖 And, yes, I completely agree. 👍
Dan Bricklin
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When I read this:
https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/01/06/the-big-regression
I was reminded of something I once read about the creation/evolution of the Safari Browser (Thanks @lisamelton !)
As I remember it, they weren't allowed to add any features that slowed the browser down.
That principle should be a northstar for anyone trying to make a better version of anything.
NYTImes has an article about COSM immersive viewing of live sports in a planetarium-like venue: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/03/arts/television/cosm-sports.html Looks great. When will this be available on #VisionPro?
Dan Bricklin
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Wonderful story:
A 'toaster with a lens': The story behind the first handheld digital camera https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20251205-how-the-handheld-digital-camera-was-born?ocid=ww.social.link.twitter via @BBC_Future
Dan Bricklin
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The Mac calculator’s original design came from letting Steve Jobs play with sliders for ten minutes
In 1982, a young Mac developer turned Jobs into a UI designer—and accidentally invented a new technique.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/11/the-mac-calculators-original-design-came-from-letting-steve-jobs-play-with-sliders-for-ten-minutes/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social
Dan Bricklin
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@danb @_Davidsmith Thanks, Dan. Means a lot coming from you!
Dan Bricklin
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@danb 💙 So glad to hear it was helpful.
@marcoarment @_Davidsmith Oh, no! I love the podcast so much and learn so much from it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for keeping it up for so long. I hope our paths cross again, Marco, and David, know that you helped me a lot over the years (with doing my coding and through your products). Take care, the both of you! -Dan Bricklin
Dan Bricklin
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visionOS 26.2 marks a bunch of the Apple Pencil APIs as now available on visionOS. So either Logi Muse is going to actually support PencilKit, or Apple has Pencil (or Marker) support in the works
Dan Bricklin
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I was interviewed for the Learning from Machine Learning podcast. I'm really happy with how it turned out. (They edited it well to make me sound coherent.) "Lessons from Building the First Killer App" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd851lIutbQ and https://rss.com/podcasts/learning-from-machine-learning/2275047/
I was interviewed for the Learning from Machine Learning podcast. I'm really happy with how it turned out. (They edited it well to make me sound coherent.) "Lessons from Building the First Killer App" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd851lIutbQ and https://rss.com/podcasts/learning-from-machine-learning/2275047/
Dan Bricklin
boosted
Five years ago, today, a TikTok video changed my life.
While Widgetsmith launched on Sep 16, 2020, it wasn't until the 18th when it had its viral moment on TikTok and meteoric rise to the top of the App Store.
I wanted to observe the occasion with a little retrospective of my memories from that day and the journey to it.
Little did I know then that my professional life would become helping millions of people make their home screens “Aesthetic AF”.
(131M so far[!])
https://david-smith.org/blog/2025/09/18/widgetsmith-at-five/
@stroughtonsmith A related observation: In the US, we value a "doctorate" as opposed to "all but dissertation". A difference? The person with a doctorate has "shipped". The other did not for whatever reason. Knowing how to say and do "done enough for now with loose-ends tied up" is valued.
Dan Bricklin
boosted
'Real artists ship' is a surprisingly effective motivator, and an important forcing function. Sometimes I just get so fed up of looking at an unshipped Xcode project that I'm compelled to pull out all the stops to push it out the door. If you don't ship, you never learn and grow
One of the VisiCalc guys, CTO Alpha Software, DBDemo, Trellix, blogger, podcaster, SocialCalc, iPad app: Note Taker HD, president of Software Garden, Inc.
Joined Nov 2022
