Editing Lotus 1-2-3 (section)

=== Beginnings ===
{{more citations needed|section|date=January 2021}}<!--4 paragraphs without citations-->
[[Image:Lotus 1-2-3 for DOS - Release 2.3 - User's Guide.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Lotus 1-2-3 Release 2.3 for DOS User's Guide; the Functions and Macros Guide is next to it.]]
The Lotus Development Corporation was founded by [[Mitch Kapor|Mitchell Kapor]], a friend of the developers of [[VisiCalc]] who had written software for it.{{r|vangelder198309}} 1-2-3 was originally written by [[Jonathan Sachs]], who had written two spreadsheet programs previously while working at [[Concentric Data Systems]], Inc.{{r|vangelder198309}}<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/library/ls-NDHistory/ |contribution=The History of Notes and Domino |date=2007-11-14 |access-date=2005-12-20 |publisher=[[IBM]] |title=Developer Works |archive-date=20 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120160049/https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/library/ls-NDHistory/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |url=http://purl.umn.edu/107619 |title=Oral history interview with Jonathan Sachs |author-first=Martin |author-last=Campbell-Kelly |date=2004-05-07 |publisher=[[Charles Babbage Institute]], University of Minnesota}}.</ref>

"1-2-3" symbolizes the software's three modules: Spreadsheet, business graphics, and database (replacing the originally planned word processor). While Kapor had some programming experience, he later said that his designing skills were superior.<ref name="vangelder198309">{{cite news | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mt9tF7XMFX4C&lpg=PA287&pg=PA156#v=onepage&q&f=true | title=On The Road To Software Stardom | work=PC Magazine | date=August 1983 | accessdate=22 October 2013 | author=van Gelder, Lindsy | pages=156}}</ref> Kapor was primarily a marketing guru. His ability to develop his product to appeal to non-technical users was one secret to its rapid success. Unlike many technologists, Kapor relied on focus group feedback to make his user instructions more user-friendly. One example: the instructions that came with the floppy disc read: "Remove the protective cover and insert disc into computer." A few focus group participants tried to rip-off the stiff plastic envelope of disc carrier. Kapor's recognition that techno-speak instructions needed to be translated to normative English was a strong contributor to the product's popularity.

Lotus spent $1 million for advertising in January and February 1983 in ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'', ''[[Business Week]]'', ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', ''[[Newsweek]]'', and computer magazines.{{r|vangelder198309}} Lotus 1-2-3 was released on 26 January 1983, and immediately overtook Visicalc in sales. Unlike Microsoft [[Multiplan]], it stayed very close to the model of VisiCalc, including the "A1" letter and number cell notation, and slash-menu structure. It was cleanly programmed, relatively bug-free, gained speed from being written completely in [[x86]] [[assembly language]] (this remained the case for all DOS versions until 3.0, when Lotus switched to [[C (programming language)|C]]<ref name="nyt">{{cite news |title=The Executive computer; Lotus 1-2-3 Faces Up to the Upstarts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/13/business/the-executive-computer-lotus-1-2-3-faces-up-to-the-upstarts.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm |access-date=2012-10-14 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=1988-03-13 |author-first=Peter H. |author-last=Lewis | url-access=limited |quote=Release 3.0 is being written in the computer language known as [[C (language)|C]], to provide easy transportability among PCs, Macs and mainframes.}}</ref>) and wrote directly to video memory rather than use the slow DOS and/or BIOS text output functions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.techopedia.com/definition/4420/lotus-1-2-3|title=Lotus 1-2-3|last=Techopedia|access-date=2019-07-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pcmuseum.ca/details.asp?id=36346&type=Software|title=Lotus 1-2-3 Release 2.4|last=Perconal Computer Museum|access-date=2019-07-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613010619/http://pcmuseum.ca/details.asp?id=36346&type=software|archive-date=13 June 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Among other novelties that Lotus introduced was a graph maker that could display several forms of graphs (including pie charts, bar graphics, or line charts) but required the user to have a graphics card. At this early stage, the only video boards available for the PC were IBM's [[Color Graphics Adapter]] and [[IBM Monochrome Display Adapter|Monochrome Display and Printer Adapter]], the latter not supporting any graphics. However, because the two video boards used different RAM and port addresses, both could be installed in the same machine and so Lotus took advantage of this by supporting a "split" screen mode whereby the user could display the worksheet portion of 1-2-3 on the sharper monochrome video and the graphics on the [[Color Graphics Adapter|CGA display]].

The initial release of 1-2-3 supported only three video setups: CGA, [[IBM Monochrome Display Adapter|MDA]] (in which case the graph maker was not available) or dual-monitor mode. However, a few months later support was added for Hercules Computer Technology's [[Hercules Graphics Card|Hercules Graphics Adapter]] which was a clone of the MDA that allowed bitmap mode. The ability to have high-resolution text and graphics capabilities (at the expense of color) proved extremely popular and Lotus 1-2-3 is credited with popularizing the Hercules graphics card.

Subsequent releases of Lotus 1-2-3 supported more video standards as time went on, including EGA, AT&T/Olivetti, and VGA. Significantly, support for the PCjr/Tandy modes was never added and users of those machines were limited to CGA graphics.

The early versions of 1-2-3 also had a key disk copy protection. While the program was hard disk installable, the user had to insert the original floppy disk when starting 1-2-3 up. This protection scheme was easily cracked and a minor inconvenience for home users, but proved a serious nuisance in an office setting. Starting with Release 3.0, Lotus no longer used copy protection. However, it was then necessary to "initialize" the System disk with one's name and company name so as to customize the copy of the program. Release 2.2 and higher had this requirement. This was an irreversible process unless one had made an exact copy of the original disk so as to be able to change names to transfer the program to someone else.

The reliance on the specific hardware of the IBM PC led to 1-2-3 being utilized as one of the two [[stress testing (software)|stress test]] applications, along with [[Microsoft Flight Simulator]], for true 100% compatibility when [[IBM PC compatible|PC clones]] appeared in the early 1980s.<ref name="springer19850603">{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8C4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA72 |title=Tandy's Magnificent Concession |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |date=1985-06-03 |access-date=2014-07-19 |author-last=Springer |author-first=P. Gregory |pages=72 |volume=7 |issue=22}}</ref><ref name="lockwood198509">{{cite news |url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/creative/v11n9/50_Zenith_Z151_choice_of_U.php |title=Zenith Z-151; choice of U.S. Air Force and Navy |work=[[Creative Computing]] |date=September 1985 |access-date=2013-02-26 |author-last=Lockwood |author-first=Russ |pages=50}}</ref><ref name= "alsop19940131">{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AzsEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22flight%20simulator%22&pg=PT1 |title=A public Windows pane to make compatibility clearer |access-date=2011-02-28 |author-last=Alsop |author-first=Stewart |date=1994-01-31 |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |page=102 | volume=16 | issue=5 }}</ref><ref name= "dvorak19860512">{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sy8EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22flight%20simulator%22&pg=PA66 |title=Springtime in Atlanta Beats Fall in Las Vegas |access-date=2011-02-28 |author-last=Dvorak |author-first=John C. |date=1986-05-12 |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |page=66 |volume=8 |issue=19}}</ref><ref name="satchel19860127">{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=my8EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22flight%20simulator%22&pg=PA50 |title=The Corona ATP Is Faster Than The IBM PC AT, But It Has Flaws |access-date=2011-02-28 |author-last=Satchell |author-first=Stephen |date=1986-01-27 |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |pages=47, 50 | volume=8 | issue=4}}</ref><ref name="mace19860505">{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qi8EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22flight%20simulator%22&pg=PA5 |title=Amiga, Atari Ready PC Emulators |access-date=2011-02-28 |author-last1=Mace |author-first1=Scott |author-first2=Karen |author-last2=Sorensen |date=1986-05-05 |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |page=5 |volume=8 |issue=18}}</ref><ref name="satchell19850114">{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-i4EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22flight%20simulator%22&pg=PA54 |title=AT&T 6300 Personal Computer |access-date=2011-02-28 |author-last=Satchell |author-first=Stephen |date=1985-01-14 |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |pages=49, 53–54 |volume=7 |issue=1 & 2 }}</ref> 1-2-3 required two disk drives and at least 192K of memory, which made it incompatible with the [[IBM PCjr]]; Lotus produced a version for the PCjr that was on two cartridges but otherwise identical.<ref name="trivette198504">{{cite news |url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue59/review_lotus_123.php |title=Lotus 1-2-3 For IBM PCjr |work=[[Compute!]] |date=April 1985 |access-date=2013-10-06 |author-last=Trivette |author-first=Donald B. |pages=63}}</ref>

By early 1984 the software was a [[killer application|killer app]] for the IBM PC and compatibles, while hurting sales of computers that could not run it. "They're looking for 1-2-3. Boy, are they looking for 1-2-3!" ''InfoWorld'' wrote. Noting that computer purchasers did not want PC compatibility as much as compatibility with certain PC software, the magazine suggested "let's tell it like it is. Let's not say 'PC compatible,' or even 'MS-DOS compatible.' Instead, let's say '1-2-3 compatible.{{'"}}<ref name="clapp19840227">{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gy4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA22 |title=PC compatibility |magazine=[[InfoWorld]] |date=1984-02-27 |access-date=2015-01-18 |author-last=Clapp |author-first=Doug |pages=22 |volume=6 |issue=9}}</ref> PC clones' advertising did often prominently state that they were compatible with 1-2-3.{{r|trivette198504}} An Apple II software company promised that its spreadsheet had "the power of 1-2-3".<ref name="incider198612">{{cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/stream/inCider_86-12#page/n176/mode/1up |title=VIP Professional |magazine=inCider |date=December 1986 |access-date=2015-02-04 |type=advertisement |pages=171 |issn=0740-0101|volume=4 |issue=12}}</ref> 1-2-3's macro system was the world's most popular [[application development language]].{{r|stinson19910416}} Because spreadsheets use large amounts of memory, 1‐2‐3 helped popularize greater RAM capacities in PCs, and especially the advent of [[expanded memory]], which allowed greater than 640k to be accessed.