Bank Street Writer
Bank Street Writer | |
| Title | Bank Street Writer |
| Release date(s) | 1981 |
| Original Platform(s) | Apple II |
| Developer(s) | Bank Street College of Education |
| Category(s) | Productivity, Word Processing, Word Processor |
Overview
Bank Street Writer was an influential word processing program first released in 1981 for the Apple II and later adapted for other platforms, including the IBM PC, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, and Macintosh. Uniquely designed with children and novice computer users in mind, the program was developed by Bank Street College of Education in collaboration with the software publisher Broderbund. It combined the emerging technology of personal computing with educational philosophy, helping to make word processing accessible in classrooms and homes.
Origins and Development
Bank Street Writer emerged from a unique partnership between educators and technologists. It was developed by the Center for Children and Technology (CCT), a division of Bank Street College of Education in New York City. The college had long been at the forefront of progressive education and saw potential in microcomputers as a tool for empowering students to express themselves.
The Bank Street Writer software was developed through a collaboration involving software developer Franklin E. Smith, a team of educators at the Bank Street College of Education in New York City, and programmers at Intentional Educations in Watertown, Massachusetts.
Rather than adapting existing business-oriented word processors like WordStar or Apple Writer, the team designed a new interface from the ground up, putting clarity, simplicity, and friendliness first.
Reception
Bank Street Writer garnered generally good reviews and was a top selling word-processor on the Apple, Atari 8-Bit and Commodore 64 platforms. Designed for children and novice computer users, Bank Street Writer both demonstrated a worthwhile market existed beyond the professional power users, and a reference point for developers for the value of simplifying user interfaces.
Releases
- Bank Street Writer (Apple II, 5 1/4" Disk) Broderbund Software - 1983 USA, Canada Release
- Bank Street Writer (Atari 8-Bit, 5 1/4" Disk) Broderbund Software - 1983 USA, Canada Release
- Bank Street Writer (C64, 5 1/4" Disk) Broderbund Software - 1983 USA, Canada Release
- Bank Street Writer Plus (Apple II, 5 1/4" Disk) Broderbund Software - 1986 USA, Canada Release
- Bank Street Writer Plus (PC, 5 1/4" Disk) Broderbund Software - 1989 USA, Canada Release
