Word processor
A word processor 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 are primarily word processor programs running on general purpose computers, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktop computers, with dedicated hardware word processors being confined to a small niche market.
The functions of a word processor program are typically between those of a simple text editor and a desktop publishing program. Many word processing programs have gained advanced features over time providing similar functionality to desktop publishing programs.
Common word processor programs include LibreOffice Writer, Google Docs and Microsoft Word.
Background
Word processors developed from mechanical machines, later merging with computer technology. 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 term word 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.
Through history, there have been three types of word processors: mechanical, electronic and software.
Mechanical word processing
The first word processing device was patented in 1714 by Henry Mill for a machine that was capable of "writing so clearly and accurately you could not distinguish it from a printing press". More than a century later, another patent appeared in the name of William Austin Burt for the typographer. In the late 19th century, Christopher Latham Sholes created the first recognizable typewriter, which was described as a "literary piano".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" itself was possibly created in the 1950s by Ulrich Steinhilper, a German IBM typewriter sales executive, or by an American electro-mechanical typewriter executive, George M. Ryan, who obtained a trademark registration in the USPTO for the phrase. However, it did not make its appearance in 1960s office management or computing 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 the New York Times 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.
Electromechanical and electronic word processing
By the late 1960s, IBM had developed the IBM MT/ST. It was a model of the IBM 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 with the development of several innovations. Just before the arrival of the personal computer, IBM developed the floppy disk. In the 1970s, the first proper word-processing systems appeared, which allowed display and editing of documents on CRT 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 the Apple computer was released.
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 in its models by 1978. Lexitron also used 5 inch floppy diskettes, which became the standard in the personal computer field. The program disk was inserted in one drive, and the system booted up. The data diskette was then put in the second drive. The operating system and the word processing program were combined in one file.
Another of the early word processing adopters was Vydec, which created in 1973 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. The Vydec Word Processing System sold for $12,000 at the time,.
The Redactron Corporation 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.
A CRT-based system by Wang 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 systems were often expensive and hard to use, 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, 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.
Japanese word processor devices
In Japan, even though typewriters with Japanese writing system had been used for businesses and governments, they were limited to specialists and required special skills due to the wide variety of symbols, until computer-based devices came onto the market. Japanese typewriters required the operator to search for and retrieve each character individually from a layout of over 1,000 type slugs. The operation was complicated and demanded considerable skill. For this reason, mimeographing was widely used for small-scale printing instead of typewriters before the invention of word processors.In countries using Latin alphabet, word processors were relatively easy to develop since text processing required only alphanumeric characters and a few symbols. However, because typewriters were already sufficient for practical needs in Latin-alphabet countries, the demand for expensive dedicated word processors was limited. As a result, many users transitioned directly from typewriters to word processing software on personal computers within a short span, and dedicated word processors did not achieve widespread adoption.
In contrast, Japan faced challenges such as printing more complex characters than the alphabet and devising methods for kanji input, which made development difficult. However, once Japanese word processors appeared, they were quickly embraced. As a result, in 20th-century Japan, the transition often proceeded directly from handwriting and mimeographing to dedicated word processors, and then to word processing software on personal computers—without going through the stage of typewriter use.
The birth of dedicated Japanese word processors
In May 1977, Sharp showcased a prototype of a computer-based word processing dedicated device with Japanese writing system in Business Show in Tokyo. The later commercial model, however, did not yet include kana-to-kanji conversion.Toshiba released the first Japanese word processor in February 1979. The price was 6,300,000 JPY, equivalent to US$45,000. This is selected as one of the milestones of IEEE.
The Japanese writing system uses a large number of kanji which require 2 bytes to store, so having one key per each symbol is infeasible. Japanese word processing became possible with the development of the Japanese input method —now widely used in personal computers.