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Comment by keithpeter | Hacker News Reader

"End-user computing is becoming less a bicycle and more a monorail for the mind."

I shall steal this quote. The humble spreadsheet is just about the only 'programmable' application left on the typical corporate endpoint/educational client PC.

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And more companies are banning macros on work environments due to security reasons. Then everything is moved to Alteryx or some bespoke app that the end user has no control over it.

There's new growth in "low code"/"no code" apps. So maybe there will be a bicycle. Maybe.

this plagues my sleep. yes, spreadsheets! I always wonder: what's so special about spreadsheets?

Mainly that a spreadsheet program is available on most laptop/PCs. And most people have been taught how to use an 'office' package at some point. And the UI is sort of built in and familiar.

Perhaps you will be able to sleep easier when the Raspberry Pi' generation come of age? I recollect that small business people built applications with Hypercard a few decades ago.

https://www.wired.com/2002/08/hypercard-forgotten-but-not-go...

Spreadsheets are the best! They are literally THE killer app for PCs.

They do allow people to walk up and start building models with minimal introduction. Low floor, and, alas, as many know here to their cost, a high ceiling in the sense that spreadsheets often get used for more advanced modelling that would benefit from being constructed in a more maintainable way.

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