Article ID: CBB566761883

“The Official Response is Never Enough” (2019)

unapi

The Rockefeller Foundation shipped two Apple II computers with VisiCalc to the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture to address a grain shortage in the early 1980s. The foundation believed that VisiCalc would enable the speedy and complex analytical modeling necessary to improve the management and, consequently, the production of grain resources. The foundation also argued that VisiCalc would empower individuals in the Ministry of Agriculture, improving their own analytical thinking as they became more familiar with the modeling capabilities of the software. Even with the use of VisiCalc, Tunisia experienced violent riots due to high bread prices after the government's removal of grain subsidies. This paper explores the narratives and uses of VisiCalc in the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture in addressing this food crisis both before and after the riots. The work here contributes to computing history through an analysis of the historical relationships among governing bodies, nongovernment organizations, technology, and the global financial economy. It argues that the uses of VisiCalc in Tunisia were connected with financial austerity firmly aligned with Western interests. In doing so, this paper shows how a focus on postcolonial Africa can enrich the international history of computing.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB566761883/

Similar Citations

Article Ceruzzi, Paul; Grad, Burton; (2007)
PC Software: Spreadsheets for Everyone (/isis/citation/CBB000850217/)

Article W. Deringer; (2020)
Michael Milken's Spreadsheets: Computation and Charisma in Finance in the Go-Go ’80s (/isis/citation/CBB379657465/)

Article Sato, Yasushi; (2011)
An Inconspicuous Giant: NTT's Role in the Development of Software Engineering in Japan (/isis/citation/CBB001231706/)

Article Toomey, Warren; (2010)
First Edition Unix: Its Creation and Restoration (/isis/citation/CBB001231732/)

Article Mendelsohn, Andrew; (2013)
The Oracle Story: 1984--2001 (/isis/citation/CBB001212984/)

Article Head, Robert V.; (2003)
Working in the House that FACT Built (/isis/citation/CBB000300430/)

Article B. Grad; (2020)
Finding Software Industry History (/isis/citation/CBB181002336/)

Book Campbell-Kelly, Martin; (2003)
From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog: A History of the Software Industry (/isis/citation/CBB000301720/)

Article Nofre, David; (2010)
Unraveling Algol: US, Europe, and the Creation of a Programming Language (/isis/citation/CBB001231738/)

Article Epstein, Bob; (2013)
History of Sybase (/isis/citation/CBB001212985/)

Chapter Samuelson, Pamela; (2011)
The Strange Odyssey of Software Interfaces as Intellectual Property (/isis/citation/CBB001221563/)

Article Alberts, Gerard; (2015)
Algol Culture and Programming Styles (/isis/citation/CBB001550712/)

Book Kane, Carolyn L.; (2014)
Chromatic Algorithms: Synthetic Color, Computer Art, and Aesthetics after Code (/isis/citation/CBB001422036/)

Article B. Grad; (2020)
In Search of Software History (/isis/citation/CBB540800402/)

Essay Review Cassier, Maurice; (2006)
New “Enclosures” and the Creation of New “Common Rights” in the Genome and in Software (/isis/citation/CBB001566417/)

Article Siegert, Hans-Juergen; (2010)
The German TR 440 Computer: Software and Its Development (/isis/citation/CBB001231731/)

Article Stachniak, Zbigniew; (2014)
Early Commercial Electronic Distribution of Software (/isis/citation/CBB001214439/)

Article S. Robertson; (2019)
A Brief History of Search Results Ranking (/isis/citation/CBB189020916/)

Authors & Contributors
Grad, Burton
Robertson, Stephen
Kane, Carolyn L.
Toomey, Warren
Stachniak, Zbigniew
Siegert, Hans-Juergen
Concepts
Software
Computers and computing
Computer industry
Business and commerce
Technology
Computer science
Time Periods
20th century, late
21st century
Places
United States
Japan
Germany
Europe
Institutions
FACT
Computer Sciences Corporation
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment