Socialtext Partners with Dan Bricklin on wikiCalc
Socialtext partnered with Dan Bricklin (inventor of VisiCalc) to exclusively distribute, redistribute and co-develop wikiCalc — the social spreadsheet. Dan brings a rich understanding not just of spreadsheets, but open source and social software.
Context & Ripple Effects
Dan Bricklin had already turned his attention from the VisiCalc legacy to wiki technology in his earlier work on wikis. Socialtext is adding a spreadsheet-specific collaboration product to that effort, with exclusive distribution and redistribution rights as well as a co-development role.
The arrangement gives Socialtext a concrete route to package collaborative spreadsheet work alongside its wiki focus, while giving Bricklin a commercial partner for wikiCalc.
First-order effects
- Socialtext gains exclusive rights to distribute and redistribute wikiCalc and becomes its co-development partner.
- Dan Bricklin gains Socialtext as the channel and development partner for wikiCalc, rather than pursuing the product alone.
Second-order effects
- Socialtext’s customers can obtain a collaborative spreadsheet through the same vendor, making spreadsheet work a more direct extension of its wiki offering.
- The partnership ties wikiCalc’s distribution to Socialtext, concentrating its commercial route through one enterprise-wiki supplier.
Third-order effects
- If collaborative tools continue to be organized around shared, editable web documents, spreadsheets become another category where collaboration software competes on group workflow rather than standalone files.
The trend: Enterprise collaboration is extending wiki-style shared editing into structured work products such as spreadsheets.