VALDOCS. I had an Epson QX-10 with a Z-80 processor, 256K, and green monochrome screen when 486's were out and the 1st gen Pentium was coming out, but with VALDOCS I was able to do all of my homework the same as anyone using the Microsoft Office Suite. (VALDOCS could do word processing, spreadsheets, and charts and graphs.) It was more responsive on an 8-bit computer than modern bloated Office software, and so much easier to use.
We also used WordPerfect for DOS at my high school. In my opinion, VALDOCS > WordPerfect > Microsoft Word, but guess which one won out in the market - I've despised having to use Office software for that reason ever since.
Can't speak for VALDOCS but +1 on WordPerfect. One major feature it had forever was the edit symbols feature where you could basically access the underlying DOM and tune it to your liking. This solved a lot of problems. Why Word doesn't do such a thing is a mystery, especially given how often Word gets into weird quirky states.
I'm only five minutes in, and the vid has everything: vague sense of hype typical for television and supported with random imagery, nonspecific glorification of tech, first-rate new-agey babble mixed with self-righteous entrepreneurship, confusion of the two sorts of magic, padded shoulders that make a businesswoman look like a bouncer.
My brain is additionally confused by the appearance of one of Nino Rota's themes from “Amarcord.” For the circusey feel, you know.
We also used WordPerfect for DOS at my high school. In my opinion, VALDOCS > WordPerfect > Microsoft Word, but guess which one won out in the market - I've despised having to use Office software for that reason ever since.
Looking this up again caused me to find this very nice article about the people who made VALDOCS: https://www.electronicdesign.com/blog/rising-star