In December
1976 the first word processor for home computers, "Electric
Pencil", is released by Michael Shrayer. The original version was
created for the MITS Altair 8800 in
December 1976.
The TRS‑80 (Tandy/Radio Shack, Z-80
microprocessor) version was released almost two years later and it
dominated the market until the introduction of "Scripsit" by
Tandy/Radio Shack in 1978.
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| Michael Shrayer |
Michael
Shrayer purchased an MITS Altair 8800 computer
kit in 1975. He expanded the Altair with a paper punch, video
display, and keyboard and began writing machine language programs.
What became known as "Electric Pencil" started as an improvement
to an editor assembler package called "Software Package 1" or "SP-1".
Shrayer decided he didn’t want to use a typewriter to write the
documentation for "SP-1" but to use his Altair instead. There were no
suitable programs available, so he decided to write his own.
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| MITS Altair 8800 |
The "Electric Pencil" program was
quite unique and Shrayer began selling it through his own company,
Michael Shrayer Software, Inc. By 1980 78 different versions were
created for different home computers and operating systems. "Electric
Pencil" remained on the market into the 1980s, including a version for
the IBM PC in 1983.
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| "Electric Pencil" 2.0 |
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