Title :
The Proliferation and Consolidation of Word Processing Software: 1985-1995
Author_Institution :
American Univ., Washington, DC
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;
Journal_Title :
Annals of the History of Computing, IEEE
DOI :
10.1109/MAHC.2006.77
