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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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time
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070389
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07038900.038
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1990-09-22
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BUSINESS, Page 45Business NotesCOMPUTERSWhat Took So Long, 1-2-3?
No computer software is more popular than Lotus 1-2-3, the
electronic spreadsheet program that has sold 5 million copies since
1984. But Lotus Development Corp.'s domination of the $600 million
U.S. market for such software has been threatened by an 18-month
delay in the company's production of an improved program called
Release 3. When the company, based in Cambridge, Mass., finally
began shipping Release 3 last week, many experts realized that the
program is essentially a new product rather than a simple upgrade.
Boasts Lotus chairman Jim Manzi: "There's nothing like it on
earth."
The primary advance of Release 3, which sells for $495, is its
ability to link as many as 256 spreadsheets in one computer file,
creating an almost three-dimensional effect in the way they can be
combined to make different calculations. Lotus plans to offer a
simpler version, called Release 2.2, within a few months.