Lotus Improv for NeXT 1990
Why Hacker News recommends it
HN links it in spreadsheet-reinvention threads as the clearest look at what Improv did differently, with a distinctive NeXTstep aesthetic.
What it is
A 1990 Lotus sales demo of Improv, a spreadsheet built for the NeXT computer that rethought the grid with named categories and multiple views. The uploader, who tested it at Price Waterhouse, presents it as an early, innovative vision of the spreadsheet.
Recommended by 1 HN commenters across 3 different months, 2022 to 2026.
What Hacker News said
Recommends adamrezich · 2023-10 · on “PicoCalc: A Fully-Functional Clone of VisiCalc”
I've never used it, Lotus Improv seems like it was awesome [this video] (plus the 80s–90s vibes of this video are simply incredible) I think there's still a ton of room for spreadsheet tech to evolve, but nobody seems to really be trying anymore, because Excel is the Gold Standard that everyone seems comfortable with. for example: why do neither of the mainstream spreadsheet apps (Excel, Google Sheets) have first-class support for row and column headers? seems like an absolute no-brainer to me, and everyone who has worked in spreadsheets for more than thirty minutes.
Recommends adamrezich · 2023-11 · on “A modern, open-source spreadsheet that goes beyond the grid”
for anyone who hasn't seen Lotus Improv before and is both curious about what it did differently from "standard" 1-2-3/Excel spreadsheet programs and wistfully nostalgic for late 80s/early 90s corporate vibes, check out [this video]
Recommends adamrezich · 2026-07 · on “EVE Online's Carbon engine is now open source: Fenris Creations explains why”
One thing I didn't like about it (and briefly experimented with, in a prototype for my own game in a similar vein), was, much like EVE, it's called a “spreadsheet game”, but there's no spreadsheets in the game , or any sort of API bridge that makes doing stuff with the game in an external spreadsheet environment easier. I understand that this may just be part of the appeal of these sorts of games for many people—reading through stat blocks and wiki pages to figure out what numbers and what formulas need to go where to build the Ultimate Spreadsheet for your purposes (though in the end doesn't everyone just use existing Ultimate Spreadsheets created by others, or at least use them as referenc
Cites open-source-ux · 2022-05 · on “Introduction to Microsoft Excel (1992) [video]”
The sad thing is how little it improved Lotus tried to re-think spreadsheets with a product called Improv - it was full of good ideas but the product never took off. The product launched on NeXTSTEP in 1991 and then on Windows in 1993. Here's a 1990 sales video (low-resolution) from Lotus explaining how it works, and how it differs from traditional spreadsheets: [this video]
Cites nxobject · 2024-08 · on “Hexsheets: Hexagonal Spreadsheets”
Aw, he demos the Windows version - the original NeXTstep version has timeless aesthetics. [this video] Another innovative but forgotten piece of “better than spreadsheet” software is Javelin PLUS. [LINK]