DIPLOMA STAGE 1- SEM 1 ASSIGNMENT

Thursday 20 June 2019

A word processor is an electronic or electronic device, or computer software application that, as

directed by the user, performs word processing: the composition, editing, formatting and
sometimes printing of any sort of written material. Word processing can also refer to advanced
shorthand techniques, sometimes used in specialized contexts with a specially modified
typewriter. The term was coined at IBM’sBoblingen, West Germany laboratory in the 1960s.
Typical features of a modern word processor include font application, spell checking, grammar
checking, a built- in thesaurus, automatic text correction, Web integration, and HTML exporting,
among others. In its simple form, a word processor is little more than a large Expensive
Typewriter- like machine that makes correcting mistakes easy.

The word processor was a stand –alone office machine in the 1960s, combining
the keyboard text-entry and printing functions of an electronic typewriter, with a
recording unit, either tape or floppy disk (as used by the Wang machine), and a
bank of relays to perform basic formatting .soon the word processor had a
dedicated computer processor for the editing of text.[1] Although features and
designs varied among manufacturers and models, and new features were
added as technology advanced, word processors typically featured a
monochrome display and the ability to save documents on memory cards or
diskettes. Later models introduced innovations such as spell-checking programs,
improved formatting options, and dot-matrix printing.

As the more versatile combination of personal computers and printers became

commonplace, and computer software applications for word processing become popular,
more business machine companies stopped manufacturing dedicated word processor
machine. As of 2009 there were only two U.S companies, classic and AlphaSmart, which
still made them. [2] Many older machines, however, remain in use. Since 2009, sentinel has
offered a machine described as a “word processor”, but it is more accurately a highly
specialized microcomputer used for accounting and publishing.[3]

Word processors are descended from the Friden Flexowriter, which had two punched tape
stations and permitted switching from one to the other ( thus enabling what was called “chain”
or “form letter”, on the tape containing names and addresses, and the other the body of the
letter to be sent). It did not wrap words, which was begun by IBM’s magnetic tape
selectrictypewriter(later, Magnetic Card Selectric Typewriter). Word processing was one of the
earliest applications for the personal computer in office productivity and was the most popular
application on home and personal computers until the World Wide Web rose to prominence in
the mid-1990s.

Although the early word processors evolved to use tag-based markup for document
formatting,most modern word processor take advantage of a graphical user interface providing
some form of what-you-see-is-what-you-get (“WYSIWYG”) editing. Most are powerful systems

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consisting of one or more programs that can produce any arbitrary combination of images,
graphics and text, the letter handled with type- setting capability.

Microsoft word is the most widely used word processing software according to a user tracking
system built into the software,[citation needed]. Microsoft estimates that roughly half a billion people
use the Microsoft office suite,[4]which include word. Many other word PROCESSING
APPLICATIONS EXIST, INCLUDING WORDPERFECT (WHICH DOMINATED THE
MARKET FROM THE MID -1980S TO EARLY-1990S ON COMPUTERS RUNNING
MICROSOFT’S MS-DOS OPERATING SYSTEM, AND STILL (2014) IS FAVORED FOR
LEGAL APPLICATIONS) AND OPEN SOURCE APPLICATIONS
OPENOFFICE.ORGWRITER LIBREOFFICE WRITER,ABIWORD, KWORD. AND LYX.
WED-BASED WORD PROCESSORS, SUCH AS OFFICE WEB

History
IBM selectric
 The term word processing was invented by IBM in the late 1960s. In 1969, two software
based text editing products ( Astrotype and Astrocomp) were develop and marketed by
information control system (Ann Arbor Michigan). [7][8][9] Both products used the Digital
Equipment Corporation PDP-8 mini computer, DECtape (6” reel) randomly accessible
tape drives, and a modified version of the IBM Selectric typewriter(theIBM 2741
Terminal). These 1969 products preceded CRT display- based word processors. Text
editing was done using a line numbering system viewed on a paper copy inserted in the
Selectric typewriter.
 By 1971 word processing was recognized by the New York Times as a “buzz word”.[10]A
1974 times article referred to “the brave new world of word processing or W/P. That’s
international Business Machines talk…I.B.M. introduced W/P about five years ago for
its Magnetic Tape Selectric typewriter and other electronic razzle-dazzle.”[11]

I BM defined the term in a broad and vague way as “ the combination of the people,

Procedures, and equipment which transforms ideas into printed communications”, and originally
used it to include dictating machines and ordinary, manually operated Selectric typewriters.[12]By the
early seventies, however, the term was generally understood to mean semiautomated typewriters
affordable at least some form of editing and correction, and the ability to produce perfect “
originals”, thus, the times headlined a 1974 Xerox product as a “speedier electronic typewriter”. But
went on to describe the products, which had no screen, [13] as “a word processor rather than strictly a
typewriter, in that it stores copy on magnetic tape or magnetic cards for retyping, corrections, and
subsequent printout.”[14]

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Mainframe system
 In the late 1960s IBM provided a program called FORMAT for generating printed
documents on any computer capable of running Fortran IV.Written by Gerald M.
Berns, FORMAT was described in his paper “Description of FORMAT, a Text
processing program” (communications of the ACM, Volume 12, Number 3, March,
1969) as “a production program which facilitates the editing and printing of
‘finished’ documents directly on the printer of a relatively small (64k) computer
system. It features good performance, totally free-form input, very flexible
formatting capabilities including up to eight columns per page, automatic
capitalization, aids for index construction, and a minimum of nontext [control
elements] items.” Input was normally on punched cards or magnetic tape, with up to
80capital letters and non alphabetic Characters per card. The limited typographic
controls available were implemented by control sequences; for example, letters were
automatically converted to lower case unless they followed a full stop. Output could
be printed on a typical line printer in all –capitals- or in upper and lower case using a
special (“TN”) printer chain – or could be punched as a paper tape which could be
printed, in better than line printer quality, on a Flexowriter. A workalike program
with some improvements, DORMAT, was developed and used at University College
London. [citation needed]

Electromechanical paper-tape-based equipment such as the Friden Flexowriter had
long been available; the Flexowriter allows for operations such as repetitive typing of
form letter(with a pause for the operator to manually type in the variable
information),[15] and when equipped with an auxiliary reader, could perform an early
version of “mail merge”, Circa 1970 it began to be feasible to apply electronic
computers to office automation tasks. IBM’s Mag Tape Selectric Typewriter(MT/ST)
and later Mag Card Selectric (MCST) were early devices of this kind, which allowed
editing, simple revision, and repetitive typing , with a one-line display for editing
single lines.[16]The first novel to be written on a word processor, the IBM MT/ST,
was Len Dighton’s Bomber, published in 1970,[17]

Impact on office administration

a) The New York Times, reporting on a 1971 business equipment show that, said
a. The “buzz word” for this year’s show was “ word processing,” or the use of electronic
equipment, such as typewriters; procedures and trained personal to maximize office
efficiency. At the IBM exhibition a girl typed on an electronic typewriter. The copy
was received on a magnetic tape cassette which accept corrections, deletions, and
additions and then produced a perfect letter for the boss’s signature…..[10]
b) In 1971, a third of all working women in the United States were secretaries, and they
could see that word processing would have an impact on their careers. Some
manufacturers, according to a times article, urged that “the concept of ‘word processing’
could be the answer to Women’s Lib advocates’ prayers. Word processing will replace
the ‘traditional’ secretary and give women new administrative roles in business and
industry.”[10]
c) The 1970s word processing concept did not refer merely to equipment, but, explicitly, to
the use of equipment for “breaking down secretarial labor into distinct components, with

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some staff members handling typing exclusively while others supply administrative
support. A typical operation would leave most executives without private secretaries.
Instead one secretary would perform various administrative tasks for three or more
secretaries. “[18]A 1971 article said that “Some (secretaries) see W/P as a career ladder
into management; others see it as a dead-end into the automated ghetto; others predict it
will lead straight to the picket line.” The National Secretaries Association, which defined
secretaries as the people who ‘can assume responsibility without direct supervision,
“feared that W/P would transform secretaries into “space age typing pools. “ The article
considered only the organization changes resulting from secretaries operating word
processors rather than typewriters; the possibility that word processors might result in
managers creating documents without the intervention of secretaries was not considered –
not surprising in an era when few but secretaries possessed keyboarding skills.[11]

Dedicated models
In 172, Stephen Bernard Dorsey, Founder and President of Canadian company Automatic
Electronic systems (AES), introduced the world’s first programmable word processor with a
video screen. The real breakthrough by Dorsey’s AES term was that their machines stored the
operator’s texts on magnetic disks. Texts could be retrieved from the disks simply by entering
their names at the keyboard. It was actually a sophisticated microcomputer that could be
reprogrammed by changing the instructions contained within a few chips. [19][20]

In 1975, Dorsey started Micom Data Systems and introduced the Mican 200 word
processor. The Micom 2000 improved on the AES design by using the Intel 8080 single- chip
microprocessor, which made the word processor smaller, less costly to build and supported
multiple Languages.[21]
In additional, the competitive edge for the Micom 2000 was that, unlike many other machines, it
was truly programmable. The Micom machine countered the problem of obsolescence by
avoiding the limitations of a hard-wired system of program storage. The Micom 2000 utilized
RAM, which was mass- produced and totally programmable.[22] The Micom 2000 was said to be
a year ahead of its time when it was introduced into a marketplace that represented some pretty
serious competition such as IBM,Xerox and Wang Laboratories.[23]
In 1978, Micon partnered with Dutch multinational Philips and Dorsey grew Micom’s sales
position to number three among major word processor manufacturers, behind only IBM and
Wang. [24]

Software models

In the early 1970s, computer scientist Harold Koplow was hired by wang laboratories to
Program calculators. One of his programs permitted a wang calculator to interface with
anIBM Selectric typewriter, which was at the time used to calculate and print the
Paperwork for auto sales.
In 1974, koplow’s interface program was developed into wang 1200 word processor, an
IBM Selectric; when the Return key was pressed, the line of text was stored on a cassette tape.
One cassette held roughly 20 pages of text, and could be “played back” (i.e.,the text retrieved )
by printing the contents on continuous-form paper in the 1200 type writer’s “print” mode. The

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stored text could be edited, using keys on a simple, six key array. Basic editing functions include
insert, Delete, Skip (character, line), and so on.
The labor and cost savings of this device were immediate, and remarkable: pages of text no
longer had to be retyped to correct simple errors, and projects could be worked on, stored , and
then retrieved for use later on. The rudimentary Wang 1200 machine was the precursor of the
wang office information system (OIS), introduced in 1976. It was true office machine, affordable
by organizations such as medium- sized law firms, and easily learned and operated by secretarial
staff.

The wang was not the first CRT –based

machine nor were all of its innovations
unique to wang. In early 1970s Linolex,
Lexitron and Vydec introduced
pioneering word-processing systems with
CRT display editing. A Canadian
electronics company, Automatic
Electronic Systems, had introduced a
product in 1972, but went into
receivership a year later. In 1976, refinanced by the
CanadaDevelopment Corporation,it returned to operation asAES Data, and went on to
successfully
market its brand of word processors worldwide until itsdemise inthe mid-1980s.its first office
product, the AES-90,[25]combine for the first time a CRT-screen , a floppy –disk and
amicroprocessor,[19][20] that is, the very same winning combination that would be used by IBM
for its PC seven years later.[Citation needed] The AES-90 software was able to handle French and
English typing from the start, displaying and printing the texts side –by-side, a Canadian
government requirement .The first eight units were delivered to the office of the then prime
Minister, PierreElliot Trudeau, in February 1974.[citation needed] Despite these predecessors,
Wang’s product was standout, and by 1978 it had sold more of these systems than other
vendor.[26]

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The phrase based machines Equipment Badged), CPT, purpose

“word similar to the companies such and NBI.[27] computers were
processor” AES 90. as IBM, Lanier ALL were still the domain
rapidly came to Numerous (marketing AES specialized of hobbyists.
refer to CRT Machines of this Data Machines, dedicated,
kind emerged, re proprietary
typically systems, with
Marketed by prices in the
traditional office $10,000
ballpark. Cheap
general

Printing of documents was initially accomplished using IBM Selectric typewriters modified for
ASCII- character input. These were later replaced by application –specific daisy wheel printers,
first developed by Diablo, which became a Xerox company, and later by Qume. For quicker
“draft” printing , dot-matrix line printers were optional alternatives with some word

Released in December 1976, was the first word processor software for
microcomputers.[28][29][30][3][32] software-based word processors, and the term came to refer
to software rather than hardware. Some programs were modeled after particular dedicated WP
hardware. Multimate , for example, was written foe an insurance company that had hundreds of
typists using Wang systems, and spread from there to other wang customers. To adapt to the
smaller, more generic PC keyboard, MultiMate used sticks- on labels and a large plastic clip-on
template to remind users of its dozens of Wang –like functions, using the shift, alt and ctrl keys
with the 10 INM function keys and many of the alphabet keys.

Other early word-processing software
required users to memories semi mnemonic
keys combination rather than pressing keys
labeled “copy” or “bold” (in fact, many
early PCs lacked cursor keys;
WordStarfamously used the E-S-D-X-
centered “diamond” for cursor navigation
and modern vi-like editors encourage use of
hjkl for navigation ) however, the price
differences between dedicated word
processors and general purpose PCs, and the
value added to the latter by the software
such as Visicalc, were so compelling that
personal computers and word processing
software soon become serious competition
for the dedicated machines. Word

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processing become the most popular use for
personal computers ,and unlike the
spreadsheet (dominated by Lotus 1-2-3) and
database (dBase) markets, Wordperfect,
Xywrite, Microsoft
Word,pfs:writeanddozens of other word
processing software brands competed in
1980s; PC magazine reviewed 57 different
programs in one January 1986 issue.[29]
development of high –resolution monitors
allowed them to provide limited
WYSIWYG- what you see is what you get,
to the extent that typographical features like
bold and italics, indentation, justification
and margins were justification and margins
were approximated on screen.

The mid-to-late 1980s saw
the spread of laser printers,
a “typographic” approach
to word processing and of
true WYSIWYG bitmap
displays with multiple
fonts (pioneered by the
Xerox Alto computer and
Barvo word processing
program), PostScript, and
graphical user
interface(another Xerox
PARC innovation with the
Gypsy word processing
which was commercialized
in the Xerox Star product
range). Standalone word
processor adopted by
getting smaller and
replacing their CRTs with
small character oriented
LCD displays, some
models, also had computer
like features such as floppy
disk drives and the ability
to output to an external
printer. They also got a
name change now being
called “electronic
typewriters” and typically
occupying a lower end of
the market, selling for
under $200 USD.

During the late 1980s and into the 1990s the predominant word processing program was WordPerfect.
[33]

M acwrite, Microsoft and other word processing programs for the bit-mapped Apple macintosh
screen, introduced in 1984, were probably the first true WYSIWYG word processors to
become known to many people until the introduction of Microsoft Windows. Dedicated
word processors eventually became museum pieces.

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