buzzword free zone - home of magnus bodin (original) (raw)

Reflecting on the Teddy Word Processor

Back in 1984, when the computing world was gradually transitioning from the ABC80 to more modern systems like the IBM PC, Liber L�romedel launched the Teddy Word Processor. Despite the ABC80 fading out of popularity, its widespread use in Sweden meant it couldn't be ignored.

Teddy was born out of a summer project in 1984, driven by the necessity for a better tool to write stories and code on the Swedish ABC80, which boasted a fairly advanced network for its time. A teacher at our school, needing a word processor for her book, and our strong tradition of assembly programmers laid the foundation for this initiative. My colleague Max and I dedicated several summer nights to develop what turned out to be a decent editor/word processor.

However, Teddys capacity was so limited that it could barely hold its own source code, forcing us to eliminate all comments. Among its features were block cryptography, hyphenation, and macro recording. It supported a virtual screen to accommodate the ABC80�s limited display capabilities, and was available both as a network version and a standalone ROM cartridge. My personal favorite feature was the Z80 opcode, DJNZ, which we affectionately dubbed "devil-jump."

I extend my gratitude to Blackebergs Gymnasium, Sten-Axel Julin, and Margareta �stman for their support during this project. Those days laid a foundation for my current role as a computer consultant in Lund. Meanwhile, Max, now known as Max Tegmark, has moved to Boston, MA, where he is a Professor of Physics at MIT, living with his family and exploring the cosmos.

[1] Sten-Axel was our Math and computer teacher and indeed a vast computational inspiration for the whole school back then. He has once programmed the World famous Swedish BESK computer. He resigned from Blackebergs Gymnasium a few years ago and drove all kinds of trains. and buses for SL, Stockholm. Thanks SAJ for the time 1983-1986.
[2] Margareta was our Swedish-teacher that used Teddy to compile a small booklet called "Meningsbyggnad" (ISBN 91-542-1164-6). Margareta was later a researcher in the field of the French language at the University of Stockholm. Margareta passed away 2022.