VideoWriter

VideoWRITER
	Philips VideoWriter 450 (1988) with German keyboard
Developer	Philips Home Interactive Systems (PHIS)
Manufacturer	Philips
Type	word processor
Release date	1985
Introductory price	US$799(equivalent to $2,200 in 2022) (U.S.)
CPU	Hitachi HD64180 or National Semiconductor NSC800N
Memory	16 KB RAM; 64 KB ROM
Removable storage	3-1/2" floppy disk drive
Display	10" CRT amber screen
Graphics	NCR 7250 video controller

Last updated January 03, 2024

The Philips/Magnavox VideoWriter (styled VideoWRITER) is a standalone, fixed-application,^[1] electronic typewriter / dedicated word processor produced by Philips Home Interactive Systems (PHIS), a division of the Dutch electronics company Philips. It includes a 10" CRT amber screen with a wide aspect ratio (i.e. more than 4:3), a black and white thermal transfer printer, a 3.5" floppy drive for saving documents, and dedicated computing hardware, all enclosed in a single case. The keyboard is separate and a custom design whose unusual features include a STYLE key and not just an UNDO key but also a DO key.^[2] The VideoWriter is not a freely programmable computer but a typewriter replacement appliance. It is not a laptop machine but was designed to be transportable in either a cloth or hard plastic carry case accessory.

History

First released in 1985, the VideoWriter was sold with a moderate degree of success for several years, with worldwide sales in the mid-hundreds-of-thousands. Notable users included Portuguese Nobel Prize Winner José Saramago and American poet Lucille Clifton.^[3] Some units were primarily Magnavox-branded and some were just Philips-branded, and there were several models. With the VideoWriter, Magnavox/Philips competed with Coleco, Brother, Smith-Corona and Canon, all of which offered similar inexpensive dedicated word processors. The VideoWriter appeared in the movies 52 Pick-Up , Broadcast News , and repeatedly in Licence to Kill .

The VideoWriter became the principal product of Philips Home Interactive Systems after management decided to discontinue all development of video game consoles and home PCs (even though in 1984, the Magnavox Odyssey held 55% of worldwide console market share^{[ citation needed ]}). This system was intended to bring $10,000 professional word processors to consumers, targeting high school and college students in particular. While in design, it was nicknamed the PWP, or the "Little Orange" (as the local University of Tennessee sports nickname was "Big Orange"), but this was dropped when Coleco started using the name PWP. The 100+ column amber screen was selected for the very best in readability, along with extra space for on-screen help to the right of the typing area. Similarly, the keyboard was designed with quality ease of typing in mind in all aspects.

After the original version was released in 1985, it was localized to and sold in 11 European countries, although the character set originally included support for Spanish. About a dozen software engineers from the Magnavox Odyssey video game console group (which became PHIS) worked on the product; overall, PHIS at this time employed over 70. Not only were there follow-up models, but also a sheet feeder accessory was released for the VideoWriter.

Recognizing that the ink cartridges and the special VideoWriter floppies (which included a 50,000 word dictionary) were ephemeral, the application designed included the ability for the VideoWriter to recognize blank 3-1/2" floppies and format them for VideoWriter use (although without the dictionary feature). Also, the non-reusable thermal transfer ink cartridge can be removed from the printer mechanism, in which case the VideoWriter will print to standard thermal paper sheets, thus allowing the system to be used up to the current day. Although the VideoWriter has the capability to accept program disks, none were ever sold, although game designer Bob Harris designed several entertaining apps, such as an acrostic solver.

The groups that became PHIS included the Philips division that invented laser disc technology and designed the first laser video disc player (Bob Gepp was the project manager of this effort). After specifying, along with partner Sony, the fundamental specs for CD music and CD-ROM (the so-called Red, Yellow, and Green Books), the storage area was split off into Philips LMS (Laser/Magnetic Storage), which eventually moved from the PHIS office location to Colorado, forming the nucleus of what would become the storage products industry there. Meanwhile, the Odyssey group had finished designing the next generation Odyssey console as well as the C9000 personal computer system, which would have been the first CD-ROM-based and GUI-based Unix-family system in the personal computer industry. According to PHIS president Lou Arpino, referring to game consoles and PCs: "It's just a Cabbage-Patch Doll phenomenon"—and thus dropping all products except the VideoWriter.

Design

Based on a 1984 motherboard design by PHIS engineer Dan Murphy, that was elegantly simple and able to be manufactured for $25, the VideoWriter used the Hitachi HD64180 or National Semiconductor NSC800N^[4] CPU, clones of the Zilog Z80 with a unique pinout, along with an NCR 7250 video controller. The system included 16K RAM, 64K ROM, a 3-1/2" floppy disk drive (possibly the third system to use one after the 1983 ACT Apricot then the 1984 Macintosh), and an integral thermal transfer dot matrix printer. While designed originally to sell for $399, parts were sourced in Europe and Asia that were greatly affected by the inflation that plagued this period in time, and thus it ended up selling in the U.S. for $799 (less than the IBM PC at $1500 or Mac at $2500).

The industrial design for the exterior was created by Duncan Copeland, a Philips designer from Europe assigned to the PHIS operation in Knoxville, Tennessee. The application and thus keyboard layout was designed by Greg L. Weinstein, inspired by the Ashton-Tate MultiMate Advantage software for the IBM PC. Project Manager was Robert S. (Bob) Gepp, lead software engineer was Rexford A. (Rex) Battenberg, and lead developer of the custom operating system was Nicholas (Nick) Vigorito. It was manufactured at the Philips factory in Vienna, originally at the rate of 11 systems/hour, although some of the inventory was remanufactured at the master Magnavox North American warehouse in Jefferson City, Tennessee (an hour away from the PHIS offices).

Floppy format

The 3-1/2" floppy disk format was proprietary, utilizing single-sided, double-density (80 tracks, 18 sectors/track, 256 byte sectors) resulting in 360 KB storage.

Smart Keyboard

Although never released, an accessory, named the VideoWriter Smart Keyboard, was well under design at the time of PHIS's shut-down in 1988, principally by Greg Weinstein. The Smart Keyboard was to be roughly 8-1/2 by 11 inches, one inch thick, with a flip-open and adjustable 8-row by 80-column display, a full keyboard, and special function keys. It included the ability to hold over 20 pages of typing, and would have provided a calculator, multi-alarm clock, calculator, and several other convenience functions. When connected to the VideoWriter itself through the RJ14 keyboard connector, documents could be uploaded to the VideoWriter's floppy disk and printed. The hardware chassis was from Kyocera, and was essentially the same as the Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100 portable computer.

Related Research Articles

Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first personal computer with a bitmapped color GUI, using a version of Digital Research's GEM from February 1985. The Atari 1040ST, released in 1986 with 1 MB of RAM, was the first home computer with a cost-per-kilobyte of less than US$1.

The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and the German-speaking parts of Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnavox Odyssey 2</span> Second generation home video game console

The Magnavox Odyssey 2, also known as Philips Odyssey 2, is a second generation home video game console that was released in 1978. It was sold in Europe as the Philips Videopac G7000, in Brazil and Peru as the Philips Odyssey and in Japan as Odyssey2. The Odyssey 2 was one of the five major home consoles prior to the 1983 video game market crash, along with Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Intellivision and ColecoVision.

A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to a television or other display devices and controlled with a separate game controller, or handheld consoles, which include their own display unit and controller functions built into the unit and which can be played anywhere. Hybrid consoles combine elements of both home and handheld consoles.

The Amstrad PCW series is a range of personal computers produced by British company Amstrad from 1985 to 1998, and also sold under licence in Europe as the "Joyce" by the German electronics company Schneider in the early years of the series' life. The PCW, short for Personal Computer Word-processor, was targeted at the word processing and home office markets. When it was launched the cost of a PCW system was under 25% of the cost of almost all IBM-compatible PC systems in the UK, and as a result the machine was very popular both in the UK and in Europe, persuading many technophobes to venture into using computers. The series is reported to have sold 1.5 million units. However the last two models, introduced in the mid-1990s, were commercial failures, being squeezed out of the market by the falling prices, greater capabilities and wider range of software for IBM-compatible PCs.

The Xerox 820 Information Processor is an 8-bit desktop computer sold by Xerox in the early 1980s. The computer runs under the CP/M operating system and uses floppy disk drives for mass storage. The microprocessor board is a licensed variant of the Big Board computer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commodore CDTV</span> Multimedia entertainment and video game console

The CDTV is a home multimedia entertainment and video game console – convertible into a full-fledged personal computer by the addition of optional peripherals – developed by Commodore International and launched in April 1991.

The Coleco Adam is a home computer and expansion device for the ColecoVision by American toy and video game manufacturer Coleco. The Adam was an attempt to follow on the success of the company's ColecoVision video game console. It was available as Expansion Module #3 for the ColecoVision, converting it into a home computer, and as a standalone unit. As such, it had the benefit of being entirely compatible with all ColecoVision games and peripherals. The computer came with 64 KB of memory, a tape drive for a proprietary medium called Digital Data Packs, a daisy wheel printer, and productivity applications, along with two DDPs for SmartBASIC and Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom Super Game. It was released in October 1983 with the initial price of $700.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LaserActive</span> Video game console

The LaserActive is a converged device and fourth-generation home video game console capable of playing LaserDiscs, Compact Discs, console games, and LD-G karaoke discs. It was released by Pioneer Corporation in 1993. In addition to LaserActive games, separately sold add-on modules accept Mega Drive/Genesis and PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 ROM cartridges and CD-ROMs.

The Rockwell AIM-65 computer is a development computer introduced in 1978 based on the MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor. The AIM-65 is essentially an expanded KIM-1 computer. Available software included a line-oriented machine code monitor, BASIC interpreter, assembler, Pascal, PL/65, and Forth development system. Available hardware included a floppy disk controller and a backplane for expansion.

The Actrix computer, released in 1983 by Actrix Computer Corporation, was a Zilog Z80-based transportable personal computer running CP/M-80 V2.2. It was initially released as the Access Computer, made by Access Matrix Computer Corporation, but both the company and its product changed names after trademark disputes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VTech CreatiVision</span> Hybrid computer and home video game console

The VTech CreatiVision is a hybrid computer and home video game console introduced by VTech in 1981 and released in 1982 during the second generation of video game consoles. It cost $295 Australian Dollars in Australia. The hybrid unit was similar in concept to computers such as the APF Imagination Machine, the older VideoBrain Family Computer, and to a lesser extent the Intellivision game console and Coleco Adam computer, all of which anticipated the trend of video game consoles becoming more like low-end computers. It was discontinued in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SV-328</span> 8-bit home computer introduced by Spectravideo in 1983

The SV-328 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Spectravideo in June 1983. It was the business-targeted model of the Spectravideo range, sporting a compact full-travel keyboard with numeric keypad. It had 80 KB RAM, a respectable amount for its time. Other than the keyboard and RAM, this machine was identical to its little brother, the SV-318.

The APF Imagination Machine is a combination home video game console and home computer system released by APF Electronics Inc. in late 1979. It has two separate components, the APF-M1000 game system, and an add-on docking bay with full sized typewriter keyboard and tape drive. The APF-M1000 was built specifically to compete with the Atari 2600. The full APF Imagination Machine, including the APF-M1000 console and the IM-1 computer component, originally sold for around US$599.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First generation of video game consoles</span> First video game console generation, including the Magnavox Odyssey

In the history of video games, the first generation era refers to the video games, video game consoles, and handheld video game consoles available from 1972 to 1983. Notable consoles of the first generation include the Odyssey series, the Atari Home Pong, the Coleco Telstar series and the Color TV-Game series. The generation ended with the Computer TV-Game in 1980 and its following discontinuation in 1983, but many manufacturers had left the market prior due to the market decline in the year of 1977 and the start of the second generation of video game consoles.

The AY-3-8500 "Ball & Paddle" integrated circuit was the first in a series of ICs from General Instrument designed for the consumer video game market. These chips were designed to output video to an RF modulator, which would then display the game on a domestic television set. The AY-3-8500 contained six selectable games — tennis, hockey, squash, practice, and two shooting games. The AY-3-8500 was the 625-line PAL version and the AY-3-8500-1 was the 525-line NTSC version. It was introduced in 1976, Coleco becoming the first customer having been introduced to the IC development by Ralph H. Baer. A minimum number of external components were needed to build a complete system.

A ROM cartridge, usually referred to in context simply as a cartridge, cart, or card, is a replaceable part designed to be connected to a consumer electronics device such as a home computer, video game console or, to a lesser extent, electronic musical instruments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Home computer</span> Class of microcomputers

Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single, non-technical user. These computers were a distinct market segment that typically cost much less than business, scientific, or engineering-oriented computers of the time, such as those running CP/M or the IBM PC, and were generally less powerful in terms of memory and expandability. However, a home computer often had better graphics and sound than contemporary business computers. Their most common uses were word processing, playing video games, and programming.

Magnavox Odyssey is the general brand name of Magnavox's complete line of home video game consoles released from 1972 through 1978. The line includes the original Magnavox Odyssey console, the Magnavox Odyssey series of dedicated home video game consoles, and the Magnavox Odyssey 2 ROM cartridge-based video game console released in 1978. Philips Odyssey is the brand name that includes the Philips Odyssey series of dedicated home video game consoles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Home video game console generations</span> Video game consoles released during the same period

In the video game industry, the market for home video game consoles has frequently been segmented into generations, grouping consoles that are considered to have shared in a competitive marketspace. Since the first home consoles in 1972, there have been nine defined home console generations.

References

↑ "ARTIFACT DETAILS - VideoWriter". Computer History Museum. 29 January 1986.
↑ "Image of Philips Videowriter".
↑ Matthew G. Kirschenbaum (2016). Track Changes: A Literary History of Word Processing. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-96944-5.
↑ Janssen, Maarten (2017). "Anatomy of a Philips VideoWRITER". Hackaday.io.

External links

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.

[1] "ARTIFACT DETAILS - VideoWriter". Computer History Museum. 29 January 1986.

[2] "Image of Philips Videowriter".

[Kirschenbaum2016-3] Matthew G. Kirschenbaum (2016). Track Changes: A Literary History of Word Processing. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-96944-5.

[4] Janssen, Maarten (2017). "Anatomy of a Philips VideoWRITER". Hackaday.io.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]