Anthony J. Pennings, PhD

WRITINGS ON DIGITAL ECONOMICS, ENERGY STRATEGIES, AND GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS

The Spreadsheet that Fueled the Telecom Boom – and Bust

“I had built a model in an Excel spreadsheet that translated what our sales forecast was into how much traffic we would expect to see,” he says. “And so I just assigned variables for those various parameters, and then said we can set those variables to whatever we think is appropriate.” – Tom Stluka, Worldcom […]

Spreadsheets and the Rhetoric of Ratios

In this post, I examine the figuring of ratios as a conceptual technique for constructing systems of understanding in the modern political economy. Ratios can serve as rhetorical devices by shaping how information is perceived, interpreted, and communicated. They distill complex relationships into digestible comparisons, enabling speakers or writers to emphasize particular points or narratives. […]

Apple’s GUI and the Creation of the Microsoft’s Excel Spreadsheet Application

Microsoft’s famous spreadsheet application, Excel, was initially designed for Apple’s Macintosh personal computer. This post explores the beginning years of the personal computer and its transition to a more modern interface pioneered by Apple and its Macintosh computer. This transition opened the way for new software innovations, particularly the development of Microsoft’s Excel spreadsheet application.

TIME Magazine’s “Machine of the Year”

The new PCs were so successful that TIME magazine decided to honor them. Originally, it planned to name Steve Jobs as its “Man of the Year”. But because sales of other PCs were rising so dramatically, they changed their mind. Instead, in a January 1983 issue, TIME decided to name the “Personal Computer” its “Machine of the Year.” Although the magazine’s yearly acknowledgment generally goes to real people and was originally scheduled to go to Apple’s Steve Jobs, the dramatic sales of the IBM PC at the end of the year convinced them to change their minds.

Digital Spreadsheets – Techno-Epistemological Power over People and Resources

Understanding spreadsheets helps us see how they work in organizations and how they are implicated in the reproduction of information practices and institutional memories over time. I previously described the different media components of the spreadsheet that come together to create the gridmatic framework that registers, classifies, and identifies new conceptual understandings of organizational dynamics. These institutions or collectivities can be a neighborhood coffee shop or a global corporation; they can be a local Girl Scout Chapter or an international NGO.

THE EXPERIMENT, Part I: New Zealand as the World Model For Digital Monetarism

In 1992 I moved to New Zealand for my first academic position at Victoria University in Wellington. One of my major objectives was to research the privatization of the NZ telecommunications system. What I soon found was a new strategy for the country had been developed and implemented. The Economic Management (1984) report by the […]

Not Like 1984: GUI and the Apple Mac

In January of 1984, during the Super Bowl, America’s most popular sporting event, Apple announced the release of the Macintosh computer. It was with a commercial that was shown only once, causing a stir, and gaining millions of dollars in free publicity afterward. The TV ad was produced by Ridley Scott whose credits at the […]

A First Pre-VisiCalc Attempt at Electronic Spreadsheets

Despite the increasing processing power of the mainframes and minis, and new interactivity due to timesharing and the use of keyboards and cathode ray screens, the use of computerized spreadsheets never increased significantly until the introduction of the personal computer. It was only after the spreadsheet idea was rediscovered in the context of the microprocessing leap made in the next decade that Mattesich’s ideas would be acknowledged.

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  • About Me

    Professor at State University of New York (SUNY) Korea since 2016. Moved to Austin, Texas in August 2012 to join the Digital Media Management program at St. Edwards University. Spent the previous decade on the faculty at New York University teaching and researching information systems, digital economics, and strategic communications.

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    apennings70@gmail.com
    anthony.pennings@sunykorea.ac.kr

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    The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of my employers, past or present.