Friday, October 31, 2014

Word Processing

I didn't know that word processing was possible, until I discovered that Jimmy Carter was writing his memoirs with a word processor in 1981. The prices were exorbitant, until the ZX Spectrum came along in 1982 -- and the Tasword word processor, also in 1982. In 1983 I connected a ZX Spectrum to an Altronics keyboard, and began word processing with Tasword (see the image). This was loaded from an audio cassette player. However, the ZX Spectrum was vulnerable to spikes on the mains, which caused crashes. To print, I used an 8-pin Epson dot matrix printer, and for neater work, a Smith-Corona golf-ball printer. Click on the image, and you'll see exactly the resolution that one had.

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