Device or computer program used for writing and editing documents
Aword processor (WP)[1][2] is a device or computer program that provides for input, editing, formatting, and output of text, often with some additional features.
Early word processors were stand-alone devices dedicated to the function, but current word processors areword processor programs running on general purpose computers, including smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktop computers.
The functions of a word processor program are typically between those of a simpletext editor and adesktop publishing program; Many word processing programs have gained advanced features over time providing similar functionality to desktop publishing programs.[3][4][5]
Word processors developed from mechanical machines, later merging with computer technology.[6] The history of word processing is the story of the gradual automation of the physical aspects of writing and editing, and then to the refinement of the technology to make it available to corporations and Individuals.
The termword processing appeared in American offices in the early 1970s centered on the idea of streamlining the work to typists, but the meaning soon shifted toward the automation of the whole editing cycle.
At first, the designers of word processing systems combined existing technologies with emerging ones to develop stand-alone equipment, creating a new business distinct from the emerging world of the personal computer. The concept of word processing arose from the more general data processing, which since the 1950s had been the application of computers to business administration.[7]
Through history, there have been three types of word processors: mechanical, electronic and software.
The first word processing device (a "Machine for Transcribing Letters" that appears to have been similar to a typewriter) was patented in 1714 byHenry Mill for a machine that was capable of "writing so clearly and accurately you could not distinguish it from a printing press".[8] More than a century later, another patent appeared in the name ofWilliam Austin Burt for thetypographer. In the late 19th century,Christopher Latham Sholes[9] created the first recognizable typewriter, which was described as a "literary piano".[10]
The only "word processing" these mechanical systems could perform was to change where letters appeared on the page, to fill in spaces that were previously left on the page, or to skip over lines. It was not until decades later that the introduction of electricity and electronics into typewriters began to help the writer with the mechanical part. The term "word processing" (translated from the German wordTextverarbeitung) itself was possibly created in the 1950s byUlrich Steinhilper, a German IBM typewriter sales executive, or by an American electro-mechanical typewriter executive, George M. Ryan, who obtained a trademark registration in theUSPTO for the phrase.[11] However, it did not make its appearance in 1960s office management or computing literature (an example ofgrey literature), though many of the ideas, products, and technologies to which it would later be applied were already well known. Nonetheless, by 1971, the term was recognized by theNew York Times[12] as a business "buzz word". Word processing paralleled the more general "data processing", or the application of computers to business administration.
Thus, by 1972, the discussion of word processing was common in publications devoted to business office management and technology; by the mid-1970s, the term would have been familiar to any office manager who consulted business periodicals.
By the late 1960s, IBM had developed theIBM MT/ST (Magnetic Tape/Selectric Typewriter). It was a model of theIBM Selectric typewriter from earlier in 1961, but it came built into its own desk, integrated with magnetic tape recording and playback facilities along with controls and a bank of electrical relays. The MT/ST automated word wrap, but it had no screen. This device allowed a user to rewrite text that had been written on another tape, and it also allowed limited collaboration in the sense that a user could send the tape to another person to let them edit the document or make a copy. It was a revolution for the word processing industry. In 1969, the tapes were replaced by magnetic cards. These memory cards were inserted into an extra device that accompanied the MT/ST, able to read and record users' work.
Throughout the 1960s and 70s, word processing began to slowly shift from glorified typewriters augmented with electronic features to become fully computer-based (although only with single-purpose hardware) with the development of several innovations. Just before the arrival of thepersonal computer (PC), IBM developed thefloppy disk. In the 1970s, the first proper word-processing systems appeared, which allowed display and editing of documents onCRT screens.
During this era, these early stand-alone word processing systems were designed, built, and marketed by several pioneering companies. Linolex Systems was founded in 1970 by James Lincoln and Robert Oleksiak. Linolex based its technology on microprocessors, floppy drives and software. It was a computer-based system for application in the word processing businesses and it sold systems through its own sales force. With a base of installed systems in over 500 sites, Linolex Systems sold 3 million units in 1975 — a year before theApple computer was released.[13]
At that time, the Lexitron Corporation also produced a series of dedicated word-processing microcomputers. Lexitron was the first to use a full-sized video display screen (CRT) in its models by 1978. Lexitron also used 51⁄4 inch floppy diskettes, which became the standard in the personal computer field. The program disk was inserted in one drive, and the systembooted up. The data diskette was then put in the second drive. The operating system and the word processing program were combined in one file.[14]
Another of the early word processing adopters was Vydec, which created in 1973[15] the first modern text processor, the "Vydec Word Processing System". It had built-in multiple functions like the ability to share content by diskette and print it.[further explanation needed] The Vydec Word Processing System sold for $12,000 at the time, (about $60,000 adjusted for inflation).[16]
The Redactron Corporation (organized byEvelyn Berezin in 1969) designed and manufactured editing systems, including correcting/editing typewriters, cassette and card units, and eventually a word processor called the Data Secretary. The Burroughs Corporation acquired Redactron in 1976.[17]
A CRT-based system byWang Laboratories became one of the most popular systems of the 1970s and early 1980s. The Wang system displayed text on a CRT screen, and incorporated virtually every fundamental characteristic of word processors as they are known today. While early computerized word processor system were often expensive and hard to use (that is, like the computer mainframes of the 1960s), the Wang system was a true office machine, affordable to organizations such as medium-sized law firms, and easily mastered and operated by secretarial staff.
The phrase "word processor" rapidly came to refer to CRT-based machines similar to Wang's. Numerous machines of this kind emerged, typically marketed by traditional office-equipment companies such as IBM, Lanier (AES Data machines - re-badged), CPT, and NBI. All were specialized, dedicated, proprietary systems, with prices in the $10,000 range. Cheap general-purpose personal computers were still the domain of hobbyists.
In Japan, even though typewriters with Japanese writing system had widely been used for businesses and governments, they were limited to specialists and required special skills due to the wide variety of letters, until computer-based devices came onto the market. In 1977,Sharp showcased a prototype of a computer-based word processing dedicated device with Japanese writing system in Business Show in Tokyo.[18][19]
World-first Japanese word processor Toshiba JW-10 (launched in February 1979,Toshiba Science Institute)
Toshiba released the first Japanese word processorJW-10 [jp] in February 1979.[20] The price was 6,300,000 JPY, equivalent to US$45,000. This is selected as one of themilestones ofIEEE.[21]
Toshiba Rupo JW-P22(K) (March 1986) and an optional micro floppy disk drive unit JW-F201Sharp Shoin WD-J150
TheJapanese writing system uses a large number ofkanji (logographic Chinese characters) which require 2 bytes to store, so having one key per each symbol is infeasible. Japanese word processing became possible with the development of theJapanese input method (a sequence of keypresses, with visual feedback, which selects a character) -- now widely used in personal computers.Oki launched OKI WORD EDITOR-200 in March 1979 with this kana-based keyboard input system. In 1980 several electronics and office equipment brands including entered this rapidly growing market with more compact and affordable devices. For instance, NEC introduced theNWP-20 [jp], and Fujitsu launched theFujitsu OASYS [jp]. While the average unit price in 1980 was 2,000,000 JPY (US$14,300), it was dropped to 164,000 JPY (US$1,200) in 1985.[22] Even after personal computers became widely available, Japanese word processors remained popular as they tended to be more portable (an "office computer" was initially too large to carry around), and become commonplace for business and academics, even for private individuals in the second half of the 1980s.[23] The phrase "word processor" has been abbreviated as "Wa-pro" or "wapuro" in Japanese.
A document being edited in theLibreOffice software word processor
The final step in word processing came with the advent of the personal computer in the late 1970s and 1980s and with the subsequent creation of word processing software. Word processing software that would create much more complex and capable output was developed and prices began to fall, making them more accessible to the public. By the late 1970s, computerized word processors were still primarily used by employees composing documents for large and midsized businesses (e.g., law firms and newspapers). Within a few years, the falling prices of PCs made word processing available for the first time to all writers in the convenience of their homes.
The first word processing program for personal computers (microcomputers) wasElectric Pencil, fromMichael Shrayer Software, which went on sale in December 1976. In 1978,WordStar appeared and because of its many new features soon dominated the market. WordStar was written for the earlyCP/M (Control Program–Micro) operating system, ported toCP/M-86, then toMS-DOS, and was the most popular word processing program until 1985 whenWordPerfect sales first exceeded WordStar sales.
Early word processing software was not as intuitive as word processor devices. Most early word processing software required users to memorize semi-mnemonic key combinations rather than pressing keys such as "copy" or "bold". Moreover, CP/M lacked cursor keys; for example WordStar used the E-S-D-X-centered "diamond" for cursor navigation. A notable exception was the software Lexitype for MS-DOS that took inspiration from the Lexitron dedicated word processor's user interface and which mapped individual functions to particular keyboardfunction keys, and a set of stick-on "keycaps" describing the function were provided with the software. Lexitype was popular with large organizations that had previously used the Lexitron.[24] Eventually, the price differences between dedicated word processors and general-purpose PCs, and the value added to the latter by software such as "killer app" spreadsheet applications, e.g.VisiCalc andLotus 1-2-3, were so compelling that personal computers and word processing software became serious competition for the dedicated machines and soon dominated the market.
In the late 1980s, innovations such as the advent oflaser printers, a "typographic" approach to word processing (WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get), using bitmap displays with multiple fonts (pioneered by theXerox Alto computer andBravo word processing program), and graphical user interfaces such as “copy and paste” (anotherXerox PARC innovation, with theGypsy word processor). These were popularized byMacWrite on the Apple Macintosh in 1983, andMicrosoft Word on the IBM PC in 1984. These were probably the first true WYSIWYG word processors to become known to many people.Of particular interest also is the standardization ofTrueType fonts used in both Macintosh and Windows PCs. While the publishers of the operating systems provide TrueType typefaces, they are largely gathered from traditional typefaces converted by smaller font publishing houses to replicate standard fonts. Demand for new and interesting fonts, which can be found free of copyright restrictions, or commissioned from font designers, developed.
The growing popularity of the Windows operating system in the 1990s later tookMicrosoft Word along with it. Originally called "Microsoft Multi-Tool Word", this program quickly became a synonym for “word processor”.
Early in the 21st century,Google Docs popularized the transition to online or offline web browser based word processing. This was enabled by the widespread adoption of suitable internet connectivity in businesses and domestic households and later the popularity ofsmartphones. Google Docs enabled word processing from within any vendor's web browser, which could run on any vendor's operating system on any physical device type including tablets and smartphones, although offline editing is limited to a fewChromium based web browsers. Google Docs also enabled the significant growth of use of information technology such as remote access to files andcollaborative real-time editing, both becoming simple to do with little or no need for costly software and specialist IT support.
^Enterprise, I. D. G. (1 January 1981)."Computerworld". IDG Enterprise.Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved1 January 2019 – via Google Books.
^Price, Jonathan, and Urban, Linda Pin. The Definitive Word-Processing Book. New York: Viking Penguin Inc., 1984, page xxiii.
^W.A. Kleinschrod, "The 'Gal Friday' is a Typing Specialist Now,"Administrative Management vol. 32, no. 6, 1971, pp. 20-27
^Hinojosa, Santiago (June 2016)."The History of Word Processors".The Tech Ninja's Dojo. The Tech Ninja.Archived from the original on 6 May 2018. Retrieved6 May 2018.
