Wang 1200 Trip

The logic of the 1200 word processor is a direct offshoot of the design of the Wang 700-Series Advanced Programmable calculators (http://oldcalculatormuseum.com/wang720.html) . These calculators used a microcoded architecture that was actually patterned off of the micro-architecture of the IBM 360/30. When Dr. Wang realized that the calculator market was starting to shake out, and that the only players that would remain were those who could make their own large-scale integration ICs, he (and his senior team) decided that word processing would be the next wave. Wang had some experience in the field with the design they did for Compugraphic of a typesetting machine called the Linasec. With the micro-architecture they had for the calculator, as well as having modified IBM Selectrics for connection to the calculators as output devices, and the cassette tape system used in the calculator, they had all of the raw materials to make a word processor. Some new microcode and some minor circuitry changes to match the specifics of the word processor requirements, and the 1200 became a reality. Rick Bensene The Old Calculator Museum http://oldcalculatormuseum.com