ABSTRACT
This chapter concentrates on the use of word processing, electronic mail, and computer conferencing in professional writing and speculate on the future impact of computer-mediated communication systems on the corporate writing culture. Word processing, desktop publishing, image-scanning technology, optical character recognition, fax machines, electronic mail, and computer conferencing have changed the terrain of the business writing landscape; the ongoing development of voice-activated computers that can recognise the human voice and stylus-based computers that can recognise cursive handwriting will change it even further. One of the most powerful and versatile writing tools in history, and regarded by many as second only to Gutenberg's invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century, the word processor has radically changed the processes and products of written communication.
