Expensive Typewriter on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Expensive Typewriter was a pioneering
Expensive Typewriter was a pioneering text editor
A text editor is a type of computer program that edits plain text. An example of such program is "notepad" software (e.g. Windows Notepad). Text editors are provided with operating systems and software development packages, and can be used to c ...
program that ran on the DEC PDP-1
The PDP-1 (Programmed Data Processor-1) is the first computer in Digital Equipment Corporation's PDP series and was first produced in 1959. It is known for being the most important computer in the creation of hacker culture at the Massachusetts ...
computer, which had been delivered to MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...
in the early 1960s.
Description
Since the program could drive anIBM Selectric typewriter
The IBM Selectric (a portmanteau of "selective" and "electric") was a highly successful line of electric typewriters introduced by IBM on 31 July 1961.
Instead of the "basket" of individual typebars that swung up to strike the ribbon and page ...
(a letter-quality printer), it may be considered the first word processing A word processor (WP) is a device or computer program that provides for input, editing, formatting, and output of text, often with some additional features.
Word processor (electronic device), Early word processors were stand-alone devices dedicate ...
software. It was written and improved between 1961 and 1962 by Steve Piner and L. Peter Deutsch
L Peter Deutsch (born Laurence Peter Deutsch on August 7, 1946, in Boston, Massachusetts) is an American computer scientist and composer. He is the founder of Aladdin Enterprises and creator of Ghostscript, a free software PostScript and PDF int ...
. In the spirit of an earlier editor program, named " Colossal Typewriter", it was called "Expensive Typewriter" because at that time the PDP-1 cost a lot of money (approximately ) as compared to a conventional manual typewriter.
References
See also
*PDP-1
The PDP-1 (Programmed Data Processor-1) is the first computer in Digital Equipment Corporation's PDP series and was first produced in 1959. It is known for being the most important computer in the creation of hacker culture at the Massachusetts ...
* Expensive Desk Calculator
* Expensive Planetarium
* Expensive Tape Recorder
* Text Editor and Corrector
* RUNOFF
* TJ-2
Word processors
History of software
{{WordProcessor-stub