View source for Software:Cut & Paste

{{Short description|1984 word processor}}
{{Infobox software
|name = Cut & Paste
|author = {{unbulleted list|Steve Hayes|Tim Mott|Jerry Morrison|Dan Silva|Steve Shaw|David S. Maynard|Norm Lane<ref name="atarimania"/>}}
|developer = [[Company:Electronic Arts|Electronic Arts]]
|released = {{Start date and age|1984}}
|discontinued = yes
|platform = Apple II, [[Engineering:Atari 8-bit family|Atari 8-bit]], [[Engineering:Commodore 64|Commodore 64]], [[Engineering:IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]], [[Engineering:IBM PCjr|IBM PCjr]]
|genre = [[Software:Word processor|Word processor]]
|license = [[Proprietary software]]
}}
'''Cut & Paste''' is a word processor published in 1984 for the Apple II, [[Engineering:Atari 8-bit family|Atari 8-bit family]], [[Engineering:Commodore 64|Commodore 64]], [[Engineering:IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]], and [[Engineering:IBM PCjr|IBM PCjr]]. It is one of the few productivity releases from game developer and publisher [[Company:Electronic Arts|Electronic Arts]], along with the contemporaneous ''Financial Cookbook''.<ref name="b2g1"/> In the UK it was distributed by [[Company:Ariolasoft|Ariolasoft]].<ref name="davison"/>

Originally sold for {{US$|50}}, Cut & Paste was praised for its user-friendliness and criticized as overly simplistic. Magazine advertisements proclaimed, "If you can learn to use this word processor in 90 seconds, can it really be any good?"<ref name="petersen"/> and the slogan on the box read "The Remarkably Simple Word Processor".<ref name="davison"/>

==Overview==
Cut & Paste is a simple word processor released by Electronic Arts in 1984 for {{US$|50|1984|round=0|long=no}}. It was developed in a time when the ability to [[Cut, copy, and paste|cut, copy, and paste]] text (now known as a [[Software:Clipboard (computing)|clipboard]]) was a significant feature for home computers. Its package is a hard plastic box which opens like a book, containing a program floppy disk, a data floppy disk with sample documents, and a 27-page manual including the operation of all the four supported computers.<ref name="petersen"/>

The application launches with onscreen instructions. Ongoing usage has a fullscreen text editor with a one-row menu bar along the bottom. The menu bar is accessed using the <code>esc</code> key, and is navigated with the arrow keys and <code>return</code> key. The application operates in insert mode, so existing characters are edited only by deleting instead of typing directly over them. <code>Backspace</code> from the right is used instead of <code>delete</code> from the left. The application can help prevent the orphaning of a paragraph's line across a page break. There is a full-screen print menu. The application's namesake feature allows the user to begin a selection, use the arrow keys to mark the full selection, and end a selection{{mdash}}then cut it and paste it. The clipboard buffer persists between different documents.<ref name="petersen"/>

Features absent from Cut & Paste which were sooner or later considered staples of 1980s word processing include saving the page headers, right margin justification, centering, underlining, selecting fonts, utilizing any printer features, text searching, spelling checking, and paragraph lead indentation. It uses a proprietary file format which can't be interchanged with any other software.<ref name="petersen"/>

==Development==
Cut & Paste was developed by Steve Hayes, Tim Mott, Jerry Morrison, Dan Silva, Steve Shaw, David S. Maynard, and Norm Lane.<ref name="atarimania"/> David Maynard had previously created ''[[Software:Worms?|Worms?]]'', a software toy that was one of the 1983 launch games from Electronic Arts.<ref name="giantlist"/> Dan Silva went on to write [[Software:Deluxe Paint|Deluxe Paint]] for the [[Engineering:Amiga|Amiga]], published in 1985.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-07-22 |title=Electronic Arts DeluxePaint Early Source Code |url=https://computerhistory.org/blog/electronic-arts-deluxepaint-early-source-code/ |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=CHM |language=en}}</ref>

==Reception==
Marty Petersen, for ''InfoWorld'', wrote "We think it is simply mediocre, performing just adequately, and not nearly as good a buy as some other low-cost word processing programs." He called out the limited text formatting capabilities as a significant drawback, and concluded that Cut & Paste is "little more than a glorified typewriter".<ref name="petersen"/> Reviewing the Atari 8-bit version for UK magazine ''Page 6'' in 1986, John Davison concluded, "I find it difficult to raise any enthusiasm for this program. Its few good points are far outweighed by its many bad ones. In action, it seems closer to an electronic typewriter than a computerised word processor."<ref name="davison"/> ''BYTE'' said that Cut & Paste "is simple to use, but unfortunately it's much too limited to be of great value as a serious word processor", recommending it for children learning how to use a computer.<ref name="gingras198412"/>

Arthur Leyenberger in an August 1984 review for ''ANALOG Computing'' wrote, "The user interface is probably Cut & Paste's strongest feature. [...] I was able to start typing this review using the program as soon as I put the disk in the drive." But he found the software "just does not have enough features to make it a serious choice for anyone doing more than writing an occasional letter".<ref name="leyenberger"/>

==References==
{{reflist|refs=
<ref name="b2g1">{{cite journal|title=Electronic Arts "Buy 2 Get 1 Free" Ad|journal=Compute!|date=October 1984|issue=53|page=7|url=http://www.commodore.ca/gallery/magazines/compute/Compute-053-01.pdf}}</ref>
<ref name="atarimania">{{cite web|title=Cut & Paste|url=http://www.atarimania.com/utility-atari-400-800-xl-xe-cut--paste_29619.html|website=Atari Mania}}</ref>
<ref name="petersen">{{cite journal|last1=Petersen|first1=Marty|title=Review: Cut & Paste|journal=InfoWorld|date=March 19, 1984|pages=45–47|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kS4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA45}}</ref>
<ref name="davison">{{cite journal|last1=Davison|first1=John S.|title=Cut & Paste|journal=Page 6|date=September 1986|issue=23|url=http://www.page6.org/archive/issue_23/page_36.htm}}</ref>
<ref name="leyenberger">{{cite journal|last1=Leyenberger|first1=Arthur|title=Review - Cut & Paste|journal=ANALOG Computing|date=August 1984|issue=21|url=http://www.cyberroach.com/analog/an21/cut_and_paste.htm}}</ref>
<ref name="giantlist">{{cite web|title=The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers|url=https://dadgum.com/giantlist/ |last1=Hague |first1=James}}</ref>
<ref name="gingras198412">{{Cite magazine |last=Gingras |first=Daniel J. |date=December 1984 |title=Low-cost Word Processing on the Apple |url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1984-12/1984_12_BYTE_09-13_Communications#page/n425/mode/2up |magazine=BYTE |pages=A30–A37}}</ref>
}}

{{Word processors}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cut and Paste (word processor)}}
[[Category:Word processors]]

{{Sourceattribution|Cut &amp; Paste}}