Word processing on the computer

Around the year 1980 a technology revolution took place, namely the invention of the first word processing machines. In the beginning, they were standalone apparatus. It was a normal typewriter equipped with computer memory, but after a short time, the normal PC was used as a wordprocessing machine and the capability to edit text was realized by a software program.

The transition from mechanical typewriters to word processing on the computer was a large step in productivity. The remarkable thing is, that a computer can be reduced in it's functionality to as word processing only machine. That means, it's possible to use the IBM PC for nothing else than only typing in letters. The advent of computers for business and private users was motivated by the word processing capabilities. The advantage of a computerized word processor over a mechanical typewriter is huge. The most important feature is, that the text can be stored in the memory and reproduced many times. For today's computer users this kind of feature is normal, but in the early 1980s it was a revolution. It forces all the companies to throw away their old mechanical typewriters and buy millions of PCs from computer manufactors. The interesting point is, that even untrained users are using the PC as a word processor. It's the first application somebody discovers on the PC and understanding how a modern text software is working is very easy.

To understand the impact of the revolution we have to take a look how texts were written before the 1980s. All the decades before it was done with mechanical typewriters and before the year 1900 it was done with manual pen. That means, all the books and publications created before the 1980s were not typed in at the PC but there were produced mostly on mechanical typewriters. This effects the content of the text. If somebody is using a computer to type in a book the sentences are different if somebody is using a mechanical typewriting machine.

From a social perspective wordprocessing is not only a computer driven technology, but it's an educational device. If somebody learns to use the computer for writing texts, he learns to write texts in general. Or let me explain it from a different point of view. It's not possible that somebody learns a language without using tools like pen, typewriters and computers. As a result, the invention of the first word processing computers were equal to a global education program to teach the art of writing.