Word Processing

Word processing refers to creation, storage and retrieval of written word by typewriter terminals that use magnetic media for storage, automatic control, editing and retyping.

Historical Perspective

When typewriters were invented at the end of the last century, they were at first viewed with great suspicion. But it soon became apparent that they would greatly improve office efficiency. Apart from linking them up to the electricity supply, their basic design remained essentially unaltered for many years. Memory typewriters were introduced in the 1960s. Text could be stored on magnetic tape, and a small window into memory enabled the operator to preview and correct sentences before printing them out.

With the development of silicon chip technology in the 1970s, typewriters underwent a major change. The new electronic typewriters could store several hundred words, and could automatically carry out tasks such as justification, tabulation and centering. Around the same time, desktop microcomputers were introduced. At first, they were used for data processing, that is for carrying out numerical calculations. But as we all know, office work involves words as well as numbers and computers made a significant place in handling this kind of work increasingly day by day.