The Evolution of Word Processors and

its Impacts

Precious Julienne Sanico

Kirk Nicolas Sarraga
11TP

Introduction

As writing is something that we humans need in our lives, word processors are
important to our society. We often use writing to be able to communicate with others. In
the past, writing was also used in recording current happenings to be used in the future.
Writing is something powerful and word processors help in contributing to effective
communication through writing.

Body

The origin of word processors started with Johannes Gutenberg and his moveable type
which he invented in the year 1439 according to (“History of Word Processors — The
IDEA Club.”). Before Gutenberg, the books that they all had before were completely
handwritten. With his invention, he was able to produce and copy more words faster
and easier which made it much more convenient for people in his time.

In the year 1867, Christopher Latham Sholes, along with his 2 colleagues, invented the
first successful typewriter. This typewriter is a manual typewriter wherein the print is on
the underside of the roller which means that the typist could not view his work until it is
finished. Eventually, the typewriter evolved and upgraded. It had a shift key on the year
(1878); printing on the upper side of the roller on the year (1880); and the tab key,
permitting the setting of margins (1897) according to (“On the Origin of the Word
Processor – Product Evolution.”)

Thomas Edison comes in picture after he obtained a patent for an electric typewriter in
the year 1872 according to (“History of Word Processors — The IDEA Club.”)
 M. Shultz Company introduced an automatic or repetitive typewriter after the IBM
Electromatic was introduced in the year 1930. This typewriter was able to produce
multiple typed copies of form letters which made it convenient for heavy work. (“Word
Processing.”)

The typewriter continued to evolve until it was time for the PC revolution which started
with Apple in 1977. Through this, Microsoft Word was then introduced and quickly
became a hot demand in 1983 as (“The History of Word Processing - Templafy.”)
stated. It was not cheap to create all this but it sure was worth all the effort

Conclusion

Word processors had a huge and positive impact on our society. Through these
different kinds of word processors, we were able to create effective and clear
communication with other people. We were also to create new kinds of slang which
made our language evolve. This research paper that you are reading now also comes
from a word processor that is commonly used in our society. From what was stated
above, it took a lot of years to be able to get information and to be able to send
information easily and we must be appreciative of the efforts of the people who spent
their time and their efforts to help contribute to a communicative society.

Bibliography

“History of Word Processors — The IDEA Club.” Accessed September 25, 2023.
http://theideaclub.net/words-of-wisdom-blog/historyofwordprocessors?
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“The History of Word Processing - Templafy.” Accessed September 25, 2023.
https://www.templafy.com/blog/the-history-of-word-processing/?
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“Word Processing.” Accessed September 25, 2023.
https://w.sunybroome.edu/basic-computer-skills/functions/word_processing/
1word_processing.html?fbclid=IwAR3oAne0v2VVfc-
V7Ex2UU7QHgNjv_QBA0v9VXVILBFtkLK6YsIMsXUatBg.
“On the Origin of the Word Processor – Product Evolution,” June 25, 2019.
https://www.productevolution.org/2018/02/on-the-origin-of-the-word-processor/.