Bank Street Writer
Encyclopedia
Bank Street Writer was a word processor
for Apple II
, Atari 8-bit
, Commodore
, Macintosh
, and IBM PC
computers.
It was designed in 1981 by Jeff Nilson, software manager at Intentional Educations in Watertown, MA and Gene Kuzmiak, then a senior at Harvard College. Nilson and Kuzmiak, over lunch at a local Chinese restaurant, designed the interface for the Bank Street Writer on some paper napkins. The interface featured menus listing the operations the word processor could 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.
Over Christmas break, Kuzmiak developed a prototype for the Bank Street Writer in 6502 assembler, the native code for the Apple II.
Prior to the advent of the Bank Street Writer, most word processors ran on networked minicomputers. The most popular word processor for the personal computer was Apple Writer
, 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. The text displayed in a document written with the Bank Street Writer more closely resembled the actual printed page than any other word processor on the market.
The published version of the Bank Street Writer was developed by a team from Intentional Educations including Peter Dublin, Peter Kelman, Franklin Thomas, Nilson, and Kuzmiak working with a group from the Bank Street College of Education in New York City.
Brøderbund Software published the Bank Street Writer, which became the leading word processor used in schools through most of the 1980s.
With the advent of Microsoft Windows, the Bank Street Writer was superseded by word processors such as WordPerfect
and Microsoft Word
.
reviewer Steve Oliver II sums up, "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."
Word processor
A word processor is a computer application used for the production of any sort of printable material....
for Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
, Atari 8-bit
Atari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips...
, Commodore
Commodore International
Commodore is the commonly used name for Commodore Business Machines , the U.S.-based home computer manufacturer and electronics manufacturer headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania, which also housed Commodore's corporate parent company, Commodore International Limited...
, Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
, and IBM PC
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
computers.
It was designed in 1981 by Jeff Nilson, software manager at Intentional Educations in Watertown, MA and Gene Kuzmiak, then a senior at Harvard College. Nilson and Kuzmiak, over lunch at a local Chinese restaurant, designed the interface for the Bank Street Writer on some paper napkins. The interface featured menus listing the operations the word processor could 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.
Over Christmas break, Kuzmiak developed a prototype for the Bank Street Writer in 6502 assembler, the native code for the Apple II.
Prior to the advent of the Bank Street Writer, most word processors ran on networked minicomputers. The most popular word processor for the personal computer was Apple Writer
Apple Writer
Apple Writer is a word processor for the Apple II family of personal computers. It was created by programmer and former NASA engineer Paul Lutus and published in 1979 by Apple Computer.-Apple Writer 1.0:...
, which (prior to the version II release) operated in Apple's text mode
Text mode
Text mode is a kind of computer display mode in which the content of the screen is internally represented in terms of characters rather than individual pixels. Typically, the screen consists of a uniform rectangular grid of character cells, each of which contains one of the characters of a...
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. The text displayed in a document written with the Bank Street Writer more closely resembled the actual printed page than any other word processor on the market.
The published version of the Bank Street Writer was developed by a team from Intentional Educations including Peter Dublin, Peter Kelman, Franklin Thomas, Nilson, and Kuzmiak working with a group from the Bank Street College of Education in New York City.
Brøderbund Software published the Bank Street Writer, which became the leading word processor used in schools through most of the 1980s.
With the advent of Microsoft Windows, the Bank Street Writer was superseded by word processors such as WordPerfect
WordPerfect
WordPerfect is a word processing application, now owned by Corel.Bruce Bastian, a Brigham Young University graduate student, and BYU computer science professor Dr. Alan Ashton joined forces to design a word processing system for the city of Orem's Data General Corp. minicomputer system in 1979...
and Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is a word processor designed by Microsoft. It was first released in 1983 under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms including IBM PCs running DOS , the Apple Macintosh , the AT&T Unix PC , Atari ST , SCO UNIX,...
.
Reception
Antic (magazine)ANTIC (magazine)
Antic was the name of a home computer magazine devoted to the Atari 8-bit computer line . Its ISSN is 0113-1141. It took its name from the ANTIC chip, which produced the Atari line's graphics. The first issue was published in April 1982. While it began as a bimonthly magazine, within a year it had...
reviewer Steve Oliver II sums up, "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."