Franklin Computer WM 1000

Description

Brand:	Franklin Computer
Model:	WORDMASTER WM 1000
Type:	Electronic Dictionary
Picture:
Batteries:	AA x 4
Lifetime:	Introduced: 1987 Terminated: unknown
Notes:	Strictly speaking this device should not be in a Calculator Museum for it can not perform any calculations. It should not even be in this Translators category because it does not perform translations. So what is it? Lets classify it as a Electronic Dictionary. It contains dictionary material from Merriam-Webster, as listed at the back: THE PROXIMITY/MERRIAM-WEBSTER CONCISE ELECTRONIC DICTIONARY Copyright 1984, 1985, 1987 All Rights Reserved Proximity Technology, Inc. Copyright 1983, 1984, 1985 All Rights Reserved Merriam-Webster, Inc." It can perform all kinds of operations on its internal database of more than 487,000 words: It can check for incorrectly spelled words. Type a (misspelled) word and press ENTER to obtain a list of words one might have meant. It can display synonyms of words. It has a built-in dictionary, so to look up a meaning of a word, type it, followed by ENTER and then DEF. It can help with hyphenation. Type a word, press ENTER and HYPHEN to see where the word breaks are. It can produce random words (for practice?) It can help with crosswords and other word games such as the daily Wordle (link validated 2024-10-07). Its a good thing this device is now stored without batteries so I won't be tempted. It can play word games, such as hangman, anagram guessing, general word guessing, a typing game and it can even throw dice and produce lotto numbers. There is a lot of information on this machine, including on its built-in games, on this tronics.life page (link validated 2024-10-07). The display on this specimen is starting to deteriorate. Traces of leakage are already visible along its bottom edge. Despite that it is still working perfectly. Today, with internet and smartphones, there is no more use for a device like this. I’m quite impressed by its capabilities.