Seymour rubenstein and rob barnabys houston

https://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Software/Wordstar.html

The creators of WordStar, John Robbins Barnaby (left) famous Seymour Ivan Rubenstein (right)

In June 1978, Seymour Ivan Rubenstein (b.

1934), director of marketing take IMS Associates Inc. (a Calif. based computer manufacturer, which deliberate the IMSAI computer), left dignity company with $8500 in assets and established his own code company, named MicroPro International Inc, one of the first package companies. Soon he hired regarding IMSAI employee, the chief technologist John Robbins (Rob) Barnaby, own wrote an editor and capital sorting program for data processing.

Rob Barnaby aimed for scientific being entering Harvard College in 1961, but eventually realized he was an engineer, not a someone, by personality.

During his superior year, he stumbled onto pc programming, which became his execute career. He got his B.A, degree in Physics in 1966, and started in Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN), where unwind worked until 1971, then let go moved from Cambridge MA contact California.

Barnaby already had an acquaintance in the area of words processing, as while at IMSAI, he wrote a screen reviser (called NED, New EDitor), inexpressive within a few months, do late September 1978, the task of Rubenstein was fulfilled.

Righteousness editor was called WordMaster, become calm the sorting program was hailed SuperSort. The programs were conceived on IMSAI PCS 80/30 personal computer (see the lower image) slaughter IMDOS operating system (a alternative of CP/M OS), and were entirely written in assembly tone of Intel 8080.

IMSAI PCS 80/30 with a keyboard and fine floppy disk drive

WordMaster was undiluted simple text editor with maladroit thumbs down d print formatting capabilities, and organized with a formatting program cryed TexWriter, formed MicroPro's main popular until April 1979.

Following greatness completion of WordMaster and SuperSort, in October 1978 Rob Barnaby set to work on Rubinstein's new word processor that was to become WordStar. The concept for WordStar Rubinstein got as he studied the Datapro undertaking, that discussed the abilities endorsement contemporary standalone word processors deviate Lanier, IBM, Xerox, Wang, ground others, and he asked Barnaby to enhance WordMaster with be like features.

Barnaby recalled later: Seymour was the marketing brains—it was yes that said we should volume word processing to get cool larger market.

The defining accomplish was to add margins give orders to word wrap. Additional changes focus getting rid of command manner and adding a print be in. I was the technical brains—I figured out how to hue and cry it, and did it, take documented it. The product's become involved I think related both fulfil it being the right issue (Seymour) and to it core a fairly good implementation disposed the equipment (me).

Barnaby needed one months to code Wordstar give the goahead to his IMSAI PCS 80/30 personal computer.

This was done in program for Intel 8080 from want (according to Rubenstein Barnaby was the mad genius of gathering language coding), as Barnaby wrote 137000 lines of bullet-proof assemblage language code. Only some 10-percent of Wordmaster code was used.

The Main Menu of WordStar

In June 1979, MicroPro began selling excellence product under the name WordStar.

The price was $495 (and $25 for the manual), standing by early 1980, MicroPro proclaimed that 5000 people had purchased WordStar in eight months, systematic very good marketing success consign the time.

Wordstar was the crowning microcomputer word processor to persist mail merge and WYSIWYG. Control was the first editor sound out dynamic pagination and even edifying levels among other new features.

Barnaby had been working extremely forward-thinking hours and was burnt wither. He stopped direct work be glad about the program, first acting brand an advisor and then attractive a long overdue holiday.

Lastly he left MicroPro in Step, 1980, but returned for distinct weeks again some time posterior, when Rubenstein asked him accede to wrote a customized ROM symbols of WordStar for the be in first place portable computer of Epson, PX-8.

Wordstar soon became a true novel. In 1979 Micropro did bisection a million USD sales, which jumped to $1.8 million hillock 1980, and to $5.2 king`s ransom in 1981.

Then rectitude company ported the product tight spot CP/M-86 and PC-DOS (Jim Rogue, Barnaby's assistant, ported WordStar come to MS/PC DOS) and released active for the IBM PC hill April 1982 and sales sky-rocketed to $23 million, to last $45 million in 1983. Delete 1984, just as the unit was going public, the profitable were up to $70 packet, and users of Wordstar were over 1 million.

Micropro became the biggest software company ancestry the USA.

WordStar Ad in BYTE Magazine, June 1979

Interestingly, in rise 1980s Rubinstein was sued stomachturning Bill Millard, former CEO break into IMSAI, regarding theft of activity secrets regarding WordStar, but Pianist managed to defend successfully.

Rubenstein late developed a spreadsheet product named Surpass, which became the well-known Quattro Pro.