The Proliferation and Consolidation of Word Processing Software: 1985-1995

Author

Bergin, T.J.

Author_Institution

American Univ., Washington, DC

Volume

28

Issue

4

fYear

2006

Firstpage

48

Lastpage

63

Abstract

Following development of the early word processing software packages $Electric Pencil, EasyWriter, and WordStar - and the IBM PC´s arrival, the race among vendors began in earnest to win market share. Of the more than 400 software packages available in the mid-1980s, only a scant few survived. This article tells the story of how word processing software evolved in response to market pressures, new hardware capabilities, user demand, and corporate decision making

Keywords

DP industry; history; software packages; word processing; EasyWriter; Electric Pencil; IBM PC; WordStar; corporate decision making; hardware capability; market pressure; software vendor; user demands; word processing software evolution; word processing software package development; Computer hacking; Decision making; Hardware; Home computing; Inspection; Packaging; Portals; Software packages; Text processing; Writing; Bravo; Charles Simonyi; Microsoft Windows; Microsoft Word; Pete Peterson; Word Perfect; WordStar; Xerox PARC; word processing software;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Annals of the History of Computing, IEEE

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1058-6180

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/MAHC.2006.77

Filename

4042485