On Sep 10, 2017, at 4:24 PM, Fred Cisin via cctalk wrote: > On Sun, 10 Sep 2017, couryho...@aol.com wrote: >> then..... who was..... the TRUE first? > > Michael Shrayer's girlfriend? > And what motivated him to write "Electric Pencil"? > Jerry started using it early on, but he was NOT the first user of it. > > Before Electric Pencil, what microcomputer word-processor programs preceded > that? I seriously doubt that Michael Shrayer was the only one to write one. > > What word-processor programs existed prior to micros? > > If I were to have had lower case capability with punch cards (I only had > access to common models of 026 and 029), I would have used punchcards for > word processing! I did use them for such trivia as the single page list of > names and phone numbers that I needed. > In 1968, I did word-processing on a time-sharing system, while I was working > at Goddard Space Flight Center. THAT, of course, was not PUBLISHED work. My > first PUBLISHED book was my Honda book, for which I used TRS-80. > Microcomputers were NOT the first computers capable of word-processing. > The word processing capability of late 1960s time sharing systems WAS being > used for manuscripts, often on the sly to keep the boss from freaking out > over the bills for use! > > You are not likely to find the "TRUE first", only "A first", or "some of the > first". > Maybe even the "FIRST to be a major best-seller". THEN you have a > researchable claim, without all of the unpublished manuscripts in attics. > Jerry's [disputable] claim was to have been the first author to write a > PUBLISHED BOOK on computer. > > And, there were authors using computers, for whom using the computer was NOT > an important aspect to them. Some published books prior to his may have been > written on computer, without having made a big deal out of that! > > > Just like Osborne was NOT "THE FIRST" portable microcomputer. We had the > Elcompco earlier (a few different single board machines with 5" monitor in a > Halliburton attache case), and I know that we were not the first. > > -- > Grumpy Ol' Fred ci...@xenosoft.com
And then there were non-computer "machines" capable of word processing, like the Friden Flexowriter that had both upper and lower case and supported paper tape punching and reading (and edged punched cards if you wanted to break things up ala IBM card). I've also written letters on 5-level and 8-level teletypes punching locally. Make a mistake, just backspace and hit 'rubout'. Easy to edit as you go. Not so easy to move sentences/paragraphs around, though it can be done if you keep track of your tapes. Interestingly, the LGP-30 had control of both cases of its Flexowriter. I suppose you could write a WP program for it, but you'd probably bump up against its 4KW memory, and at the equivalent of $400k in today's money, I doubt its powers were wasted on typing. -C
