Mediums have a grain that constrains their capabilities

Mediums have a grain to them. They have specific capabilities that they offer the author. The creation of a new medium is less invention and more akin to discovery. The perceptual limitations of the human, the laws of physics, the input mechanisms, the underlying constraints of the machine, all combine to create a grain that governs the capabilities of a specific medium.

If we take mediums seriously as facilitators of communication, then it's really the human brain and input/output system that is the primary limiter of the capabilities of the medium. In other words, Human factors limit visual perception and, in a sense, create the medium. Just as the hammer looks similar across many different cultures, so would a spreadsheet.

As an example, let's take the venerable Spreadsheets. The number of usable cells on the screen at once is constrained mostly by the human's visual cortex. Humans can distinguish two points that are 1 arcminute apart. In practical terms, this level of resolution is roughly equivalent to seeing an object that is about 1.75 inches wide from a distance of about 20 feet. At 2 feet, the approximate distance of the computer from the eye, the human visual system can detect objects at about 2mm. Spreadsheets visual density isn't arbitrary; it's matched to the human visual system's capabilities.

So too with all tools. So too with software.