Post #3847347
2026-07-16 00:59 UTC
Who decided that spreadsheets should have 10485576 rows and whatever columns XFD would be? Was there a committee meeting that I missed?
Replies (1)
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@sharkfie@infosec.exchange 2026-07-16 01:41
@north@xn--8r9a.com it comes from the time when real spreadsheets (you know, made of paper) would be branded with the manufacturer. In the late 80s, the largest office supply manufacturers were Xerox, Ford and Dell (not the current computer manufacture, it went bankrupt in the 90s). They sort of semi-officially standardized it, but a few years later they were indicted in a lawsuit for anti-competitive behavior and forced to remove it off new sold units. Meanwhile, VisiCalc had already shipped its software and back then floppies were expensive and a recall would bankrupt VisiCorp. Then Microsoft just copied it for Excel without knowing the real origin. I made this entire thing up.