Bank Street Writer

Last updated
Bank Street Writer
Initial release1981;41 years ago (1981)
Platform Apple II, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MSX, Macintosh, IBM PC, IBM PCjr
Type Word processor

Bank Street Writer is a word processor for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, MSX, Macintosh, IBM PC, and IBM PCjr computers. It was designed in 1981 by a team of educators at the Bank Street College of Education in New York City, software developer Franklin E. Smith, and programmers at Intentional Educations in Watertown, Massachusetts. The software was sold in two versions: one for elementary school students published by Scholastic and a general version from Broderbund.

Contents

History

Prior to the advent of the Bank Street Writer, most word processors ran on networked minicomputers. [1] The most popular word processor for the personal computer was Apple Writer,[ citation needed ] which (prior to the version II release) operated in Apple's text mode where all text consisted of uppercase letters. Apple Writer used a black-on-white character to represent an actual capital letter. Microcomputer word processors of the early 1980s typically had no menus; so to perform basic functions such as copying and pasting, a writer had to type a series of keystrokes. The Bank Street Writer operated in graphics mode, where characters were displayed normally with lower and upper case letters, and it provided helpful prompts during editing.

The Bank Street Writer was initially designed for use in schools. The name was a modern-day reference to the Bank Street Readers, a widely respected early learning book series created in the 1960s by Bank Street College. The school version of the Bank Street Writer was published by Scholastic Inc. and included a series of workbooks and other teacher and student materials. The Bank Street Writer became the leading word processor used in elementary schools throughout most of the 1980s. During this period, Bank Street College, led by its president, Richard Ruopp, [2] did pioneering work in the use of technology in elementary schools. Among the results were the Bank Street Writer and The Voyage of the Mimi , a groundbreaking science-based TV series.

The interface contains menus listing the operations the word processor can perform, such as "cut" and "paste", and brief directions for how to perform each function. The design addressed the need for a word processor that would enable elementary school children to use a computer to write stories and essays. Bank Street Writer is a modal editor [3] - pressing the Esc key toggled between editing mode and menu mode.

Broderbund published a successful home version of the Bank Street Writer, which did not contain the additional school materials and was published as a retail software product. The Bank Street Writer was for several years the best-selling product in the "home software" category on what was then the most respected sales chart in the industry - the Softsel Hot List , [4] from Softsel Distributing [5] of Inglewood, California.

Reception

II Computing listed Bank Street Writer eighth on the magazine's list of top Apple II non-game, non-educational software as of late 1985, based on sales and market-share data. [6]

At its introduction, the program was the subject of a laudatory story in Time about how the Bank Street Writer ("BSW") was introducing word processing into the classroom. From the article: "Children who once struggled to write two-page stories are churning out five pages or more." and "Most important, the children cheerfully tackle the messy business of revision." The article concluded: "Judging from recent sales, however, a good proportion of BSW users are adults. Designing a program for children, the Bank Street team inadvertently responded to a challenge the entire software industry faces: making computers accessible to people who do not understand machines and do not want to read manuals." [7]

ANALOG Computing stated that Bank Street Writer was suited for home users wanting to write letters and school reports, albeit lacking footnotes. The author criticized the slow speed of the word processor for documents of three or more pages, reporting that he gave up on using it to write the review, but concluded that "in spite of its shortcomings, BSW is the easiest word processor program" for Atari 8-bit computers and that it "has almost everything going for it—it is up to the user to decide if it goes far enough". [8] Antic wrote, "The Bank Street Writer was designed for use at home by the family, and for those whose writing needs are on a small scale. This is a really good first word processor - for someone new to the Atari." [9] Byte said that it was "a good word processor, but it has limited uses". While approving of its ease of use, the magazine criticized its 38x18 screen as "simply too small to display any but the simplest documents". [10] Compute! said of an updated version, "There will probably never be a perfect word processor ... but Bank Street Writer Plus brings us a little closer to the unattainable." [11] InfoWorld praised the software's ease of use, stating that they used their review copy for 2 hours before opening the manual. [12] PC Magazine criticized BSW's user friendly approach of only offering one way to access functionality as limiting for more experienced users, saying there should be a way to bypass the menus. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

VisiCalc Computer program

VisiCalc is the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for Apple II by VisiCorp in 1979. It is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a serious business tool, prompting IBM to introduce the IBM PC two years later. VisiCalc is considered to be Apple II's killer app. It sold over 700,000 copies in six years, and as many as 1 million copies over its history.

Atari 8-bit family Series of home computers introduced in 1979

The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800 and manufactured until 1992. All of the machines in the family are technically similar and differ primarily in packaging. They are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU running at 1.79 MHz, and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips. This architecture enabled graphics and sound more advanced than contemporary machines, and gaming was a major draw. First-person space combat simulator Star Raiders is considered the platform's killer app. The systems launched with plug-and-play peripherals using the Atari SIO serial bus, an early analog of USB.

Atari BASIC

Atari BASIC is an interpreter for the BASIC programming language that shipped with the Atari 8-bit family of 6502-based home computers. Unlike most BASICs of the home computer era, Atari BASIC is not a derivative of Microsoft BASIC and differs in significant ways. It includes keywords for Atari-specific features and lacks support for string arrays, for example.

Apple IIGS Apple II series 16-bit computer

The Apple IIGS, the fifth and most powerful of the Apple II family, is a 16-bit personal computer produced by Apple Computer. While featuring the Macintosh look and feel, and resolution and color similar to the Amiga and Atari ST, it remains compatible with earlier Apple II models. The "GS" in the name stands for "Graphics and Sound," referring to its enhanced multimedia hardware, especially its state-of-the-art audio.

KoalaPad 1980s computer graphics tablet

The KoalaPad is a graphics tablet, released in 1983 by U.S. company Koala Technologies Corporation, for the Apple II, TRS-80 Color Computer, Atari 8-bit family, and Commodore 64, as well as for the IBM PC.

The Print Shop is a basic desktop publishing software package originally published in 1984 by Broderbund. It was unique in that it provided libraries of clip art and templates through a simple interface to build signs, posters and banners with household dot-matrix printers. Over the years, the software has been updated to accommodate changing file formats and printer technologies.

<i>Music Construction Set</i> 1983 video game

Will Harvey's Music Construction Set (MCS) is a music composition notation program designed by Will Harvey for the Apple II and published by Electronic Arts in 1983. Harvey wrote the original Apple II version in assembly language when he was 15 and in high school. MCS was conceived as a tool to add music to his previously published game, an abstract shooter called Lancaster for the Apple II.

Cut & Paste is a word processor published in 1984 for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, IBM PC, and IBM PCjr. The few productivity releases from game developer and publisher Electronic Arts include this and Financial Cookbook. In the UK it was distributed by Ariolasoft.

Optimized Systems Software (OSS) was a company that produced disk operating systems, programming languages with integrated development environments, and applications primarily for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers. OSS was best known for their enhanced versions of Atari BASIC and the MAC/65 assembler, both of which are much faster than Atari's products, and the Action! programming language. OSS also sold some products for the Apple II.

PaperClip 1982 word processor

PaperClip is a word processor for the Commodore 64, 128, and Atari 8-bit family published by Batteries Included in 1985. In the United Kingdom it was published by Ariolasoft.

SpeedScript

SpeedScript is a word processor originally printed as a type-in MLX machine language listing in 1984-85 issues of Compute! and Compute!'s Gazette magazines. Approximately 5 KB in length, it provided many of the same features as commercial word processing packages of the 8-bit era, such as PaperClip and Bank Street Writer. Versions were published for the Apple II, Commodore 64 and 128, Atari 8-bit family, VIC-20, and MS-DOS.

<i>Apple Panic</i> 1981 video game

Apple Panic is a game for the Apple II programmed by Ben Serki and published by Broderbund Software in 1981. Apple Panic is an unauthorized version of the 1980 arcade game Space Panic, the first game with ladders and platforms. While the arcade original remained obscure, Apple Panic became a top seller for home computers. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit family, Commodore VIC-20, IBM PC, and TRS-80.

<i>Antic</i> (magazine) Defunct Atari 8-bit computer magazine

Antic was a magazine devoted to the Atari 8-bit family of home computers and later the Atari ST. It was named after the ANTIC chip which provides 2D graphics in the computers. The magazine was published from April 1982 until June/July 1990. Antic printed type-in programs, reviews, and tutorials, among other articles. Each issue contained one type-in game as "Game of the Month."

Microsoft Write Basic word processor formerly included with Microsoft Windows

Microsoft Write was a basic word processor included with Windows 1.0 and later, until Windows NT 3.51. Throughout its lifespan it was minimally updated, and is comparable to early versions of MacWrite. Early versions of Write only work with Write (.wri) files, but after Windows 3.0, Write became capable of reading and composing early Word (.doc) documents. With Windows 3.1, Write became OLE capable. In Windows 95, Write was replaced with WordPad; attempting to open Write from the Windows folder will open WordPad instead.

Synapse Software Corporation was an American video game development and publishing company founded in 1981. They initially focused on the Atari 8-bit family, then later developed for the Commodore 64 and other systems. Synapse was founded by Ihor Wolosenko and Ken Grant. The company was purchased by Broderbund in late 1984, and the Synapse label retired in 1985.

pfs:Write Word processing software

pfs:Write is a word processor created by Software Publishing Corporation (SPC) and published in 1983. It was released for IBM PC compatibles and the Apple II. It includes the features common to most word processors of the day, including word wrapping, spell checking, copy and paste, underlining, and boldfacing; and it also a few advanced features, such as mail merge and few others. The product was considerably easier to both learn and use than its more fully featured and expensive competitors: WordPerfect, Microsoft Word, and XyWrite.

Bank Street Music Writer is an application for composing and playing music for the Atari 8-bit family, Apple II, Commodore 64 and IBM PC. It was written by Glen Clancy and published by Mindscape. The original Atari version, developed under the name "Note Processor," was released in 1985 and uses the computer's on-board sound chip to produce four-voice music recordings. The Commodore 64 version also uses that system's sound hardware, while the Apple and IBM PC versions require a sound card which was included in the retail box, or alternately use the three-voice sound chip standard with all Tandy and IBM PCjr computers.

Atari 8-bit family software

Many pieces of software were available for the Atari 8-bit family of home computers. Software was sold both by Atari, Inc. and third parties. Atari also distributed software through the Atari Program Exchange from 1981 to 1984. After APX folded, many titles were picked up by Antic Software.

History of personal computers History of the consumer personal computer

The history of the personal computer as a mass-market consumer electronic device began with the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s. A personal computer is one intended for interactive individual use, as opposed to a mainframe computer where the end user's requests are filtered through operating staff, or a time-sharing system in which one large processor is shared by many individuals. After the development of the microprocessor, individual personal computers were low enough in cost that they eventually became affordable consumer goods. Early personal computers – generally called microcomputers – were sold often in electronic kit form and in limited numbers, and were of interest mostly to hobbyists and technicians.

<i>A.E.</i> (video game) 1982 video game

A.E. is a fixed shooter written by Jun Wada and Makoto Horai for the Apple II and Atari 8-bit family and published by Broderbund in 1982. Versions for the Commodore VIC-20 (1983) and MSX (1984) followed. Unlike most earlier shooters which have a solid color or starfield background, the action in A.E. takes place in front of science fiction scenes. Attacking creatures emerge from points in the image, often appearing to come from behind objects. Combined with a slight scaling as they advance, there is the impression of depth.

References

  1. ↑ "In the beginning, there was the word processor". ZDNet. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
  2. ↑ Saxon, Wolfgang (November 30, 1997). "Richard Ruopp, 65; Led Bank Street College". The New York Times .
  3. ↑ "Bank Street Writer". PC Magazine . 15 May 1984.
  4. ↑ "Softsel Hotlist Charts Biggest Hits in Software and Hardware". Chicago Tribune . March 20, 1988.
  5. ↑ Softsel/Merisel Company Profile
  6. ↑ Ciraolo, Michael (Oct–Nov 1985). "Top Software / A List of Favorites". II Computing. p. 51. Retrieved 28 January 2015.
  7. ↑ "Words at the Flick of a Key". Time . March 14, 1983.
  8. ↑ Leyenberger, Arthur (July–August 1983). "Bank Street Writer". ANALOG Computing . pp. 125–126.
  9. ↑ "The Bank Street Writer". Antic . September 1983.
  10. ↑ Gingras, Daniel J. (December 1984). "Low-cost Word Processing on the Apple". Byte . pp. A30–A37.
  11. ↑ Bobo, Ervin (August 1987). "Review: Bank Street Writer Plus". Compute!: 56.
  12. ↑ "InfoWorld Mar. 5 1984". 5 March 1984.
  13. ↑ "Bank Street Writer". PC Magazine. January 28, 1986.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.