Just as many things in life, the modification of an art is inevitably going to evolve with repeated use. This is true with the art of writing. As the demand for a product increases the rate at which it is produced is going to increase as well. This is where the need for word processing comes into play.

The first successful form of word processing was through the means of a manual typewriter they were invented by E. Remington and Sons in 1867. This marked the start of a new era for writers. Although this typewriter wasn’t released publicly until 1874, E. Remington and sons were the first to revolutionize this machine. The demand at first was low due to the many flaws with this model. The ink was on the opposite side of the paper so the person operating the typewriter was unable see his writing. They later added many modifications such as the tab key, the shift key, and the ink on the front side of the paper so that the writer may view his/her work.

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Early Remington Typewriter Image from Google

Corporations soon realized that these machines could aid in keeping their records and bookkeeping in a legible format. This documents that were made on the typewriter can no be easily read in half the time of the hand written ones. With a whole new market demanding a product the evolution of the typewriter was again due.

In 1872, an inventor named Thomas Edison patented a typewriter powered by electric. This model wasn’t perfected and released until the 1920’s. A decade later, IBM introduced the IBM Electromatic. This Model became popular with the businesses and corporations because it further sped up the process of keeping records rapidly and legibly. With the speed of writing increasing the need for a storage mechanism became an issue.

IBM Electromatic Typewriter AKA “INKY” image from Google

The M. Shultz Company’s creation of the repetitive typewriter was a major leap in the direction of word processing as we know it today. The focus feature of this machine was that it was able to record and remember amounts of information that was programmed to it. The way this machine worked was that it punched text onto paper rolls and these rolls acted as a guide for later use and reproduction.

The Flexowriter was the next step in the evolution of typewriters. This machine abolished the use of a paper roll and instead used a paper tape. The use of the paper tape allowed mistakes to be deleted from ones work. From this point on, the speed of modification for these machines was much more rapid than the previous years.

Image of Flexowriter from Google

From the early 1960’s until the early to mid 1970’s, IBM began to take hold of this growing industry of word processing. In 1961, the Selectric typewriter was put on the market by IBM. This machine required a ball like mechanism that was triggered by keys and printed much faster than machines of the past.

In 1964 IBM introduced their MT/ST (magnetic Tape/ Selectric Typewriter) this device combined the functions of the Selectric machine and a magnetic tape drive. Magnetic tape served as reusable storage for text, for the first time an individual could edit their document with out having to retype the entire piece. The MT/ST was the fist mechanism referred to as a word processor because it revolutionized the world of word processing; it distinguished the term word processing in to what we think of it as today.

Advertisement for the IBM MT/ST image From Google

Magcards came into play in 1969; they were magnetic cards that were inserted into a box that was linked to the typewriter text was recorded onto these cards as it was put onto paper. Originally introduced by IBM these card served a source of memory that could recall documents at any giving time, a disadvantage though is that only about a page of text can be stored on each card.

In 1972 a system similar to the IBM Magcard was developed by Lexitron and Linolex. This system included video screens for display and tape cassettes for memory. This allowed the user to view the text and edit tit on the screen with out having to print out a copy.

The next stage in the word processing industry was the development of floppy disks. These floppy disks revolutionized memory capabilities. The idea was introduced by IBM, but it was not until later in 1973 when companies such as Vydec brought these floppy disks in to the world of a word processor. Opposed to the early storage capabilities of one or two pages these floppy disks could hold up to 80 to 100 pages of text.

Image of early floppy disk stored word processor

Image from Google

Another important aspect of floppy disks is that they can be used to store programs. This is an enormous advancement in the field of word processing because now software can relay instructions to a machine from the disks opposed the hardwired machines of the past. This advancement enabled word processing machines to be more consumers friendly because of the new lower cost and accessibility to change and upgrade. These disks enable users to load new software into their already existing hardware.

Since the development of these disks many companies developed their own version of word processing software that can be loaded on to any personal computer. Improvements are made annually to update the software. For example Xerox, was the first company to allow the user to work on multiple documents at the same time on the same screen. Other companies developed spell check and mailing list programs to improve their software. Today word processing applications are the most commonly used programs on personal computers. They are still improving year by year by various manufactures. Microsoft is one company that seems lead in the software development of this industry, through their famous program Microsoft Word.

Image of Microsoft Word Application from Microsoft

Word processing has come along way over time from its early roots of a bulky typewriter to the modern day personal computer software, Hence the modern day definition of Word processing “use of a computer program or a dedicated hardware and software package to write, edit, format, and print a document. Text is most commonly entered using a keyboard similar to a typewriter's, although handwritten input” (see pen-based computer) and audio input (as for dictation) devices have been introduced.”(Infoplease.com)

Reference Links

http://blogs.msdn.com/chris_pratley/archive/2004/04/27/120944.aspx

http://www.stanford.edu/~bkunde/fb-press/articles/wdprhist.html

http://www.utdallas.edu/~liebowit/book/wordprocessor/word.html

http://www.cs.umd.edu/class/spring2002/cmsc434-0101/MUIseum/applications/wordhistory.html

http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0852715.html

Joseph Fatigate ∙ Stony Brook University ∙ CSE 301 History of Computing Spring ∙ 2005