Many more such cases [0], but Excel and spreadsheets in general also save businesses $$$$$, which explains their pervasiveness. Calculations take a long time and are easier for a human to mess up, which is why the initial spreadsheets were so popular as to drive the adoption of the personal computer in general [1]. The gulf between Excel and Python is pretty obvious, but there recently there have been few with their sights set on it, as most programmers looking to improve programming do so from their own experienced vantage point.

[0] http://www.eusprig.org/horror-stories.htm

[1] https://www.wired.com/2014/10/a-spreadsheet-way-of-knowledge...

You’re right. All business should get rid of spreadsheets to save money.

We can't blame spreadsheets for the cited errors, because they're errors in arithmetic rather than Excel bugs. All businesses should get rid of arithmetic.

The question is not just how much Excel costs, it is how much revenue it helps bring in. And in many places, it brings more than it costs. Nothing is worse than a poorly designed webapp that was supposed to solve the "Excel problem" in a process.

Engineering salaries cost business $$$ too. And still introduce costly errors of their own.