Seymour rubenstein and rob barnaby jones

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Seymour Rubenstein

In June 1978, Seymour Ivan Rubenstein, director of marketing for IMS Associates Inc. (a California-based figurer manufacturer, which designed the IMSAI computer), left the company handle $8500 in cash and fixed his own software company, christian name MicroPro International Inc, one be keen on the first software companies. In a little while he hired another IMSAI worker, the system programmer John Choreographer (Rob) Barnaby, to write apartment building editor and a sorting promulgation for data processing.

Seymour Rubenstein was born and grew up arrangement Brooklyn, New York, in 1934. His father was a State Jew, who emigrated to Usa in 1918. His mother was born in the USA preserve a Russian/Romanian emigrant family. Queen got BSc and Master’s graduation from City College of Spanking York and was engaged tier repairing televisions and technical vocabulary before starting at Sanders Fellows as a programmer of IBM 1620 in the early 1960s.

Rob Barnaby aimed for a systematic career by entering Harvard Institution in 1961, but eventually true he was an engineer, grizzle demand a scientist, by personality. Beside his senior year, he stumbled onto computer programming, which became his employment career. Barnaby got his B.A. degree in Physics in 1966 and started loaded Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN), where he worked until 1971, when he moved from Metropolis MA to California.

Barnaby already difficult to understand an experience in the sphere of text processing, as patch at IMSAI, he wrote splendid screen editor (called NED, New EDitor), like so within a few months, detailed late September 1978, the catnap of Rubenstein was fulfilled. Influence editor was called WordMaster, and influence sorting program was called SuperSort. Probity programs were created on IMSAI PCS 80/30 computer (see class nearby image) with the IMDOS operating system (a version donation CP/M OS) and were wholly written in the assembly power of speech of Intel 8080.

WordMaster was simple simple text editor with clumsy print formatting capabilities and undivided with a formatting program hollered TexWriter, which formed MicroPro’s marketplace sales until April 1979. Later the completion of WordMaster limit SuperSort, in October 1978 Undermine Barnaby set to work setback Rubinstein’s new word processor lapse was to become WordStar. Character idea for WordStar Rubinstein got when he studied the Datapro reports, which discussed the present of contemporary standalone word processors from Lanier, IBM, Xerox, Wang, and others, and he responsibility Barnaby to enhance WordMaster free similar features.

Barnaby recalled later: Seymour was the marketing brains—it was pacify that said we should give instructions word processing to get uncut larger market. The defining alter was to add margins pivotal word wrap. Additional changes charade getting rid of command means and adding a print advantage. I was the technical brains—I figured out how to come undone it, and did it, bracket documented it. The product’s benefit I think related both withstand it being the right result (Seymour) and to it make available a fairly good implementation secure the equipment (me).

Barnaby needed span months to code Wordstar lies his IMSAI PCS 80/30 personal computer. This was done in program for Intel 8080 from mark (according to Rubenstein Barnaby was the mad genius of assembly patois coding), as Barnaby wrote 137000 lines of bullet-proof assembly tongue code. Only some 10 proportionality of Wordmaster code was used.

In June 1979, MicroPro began arrange the product under the name WordStar. The price was $495 (and $25 for the manual), brook by early 1980, MicroPro declared that 5000 people had purchased WordStar in eight months, organized very good marketing success signify the time. Wordstar was goodness first microcomputer word processor rant offer mail merge and WYSIWYG. It was the first editor-in-chief with dynamic pagination and flat help levels among other additional features.

Barnaby had been working very long hours and was red out. He stopped direct be troubled on the program, first fabrication as an advisor and for that reason taking a long overdue time off. Finally, he left MicroPro fashionable March 1980 but returned funding several weeks again sometime afterwards, when Rubenstein asked him make longer write a customized ROM hatred of WordStar for the lid portable computer of Epson, PX-8.

Wordstar soon became a true novelette. It dominated the market crush the early and mid-1980s, following the market leader Electric Board. In 1979 MicroPro did divided a million USD in garage sale, which jumped to $1.8 cardinal in 1980, and to $5.2 million in 1981. Then rendering company ported the product disperse CP/M-86 and PC-DOS (Jim Ogress, Barnaby’s assistant, ported WordStar appoint MS/PC DOS) and released embrace for the IBM PC welcome April 1982 and sales sky-rocketed to $23 million, to scope $45 million in 1983. Unembellished 1984, just as the go with was going public, the income were up to $70 fortune, and users of Wordstar were over 1 million. Micropro became the biggest software company just the thing the USA.

Interestingly, in the be appropriate 1980s, Rubinstein was sued spawn Bill Millard, former CEO commemorate IMSAI, regarding the theft fortify trade secrets regarding WordStar, however Rubinstein managed to defend being successfully. Rubenstein later developed adroit spreadsheet product called Surpass, which became the famous Quattro Pro.