the symbols used by copyeditors today are based on those that have been used by proofreaders since the beginnings of publishing, though they have undergone some changes over time. however, the exact beginnings of the copyediting language used today are unclear. despite its long history, copyediting as a practice has not experienced any extreme upheaval other than the desktop publishing revolution of the 1980s. this phenomenon began as the result of a series of inventions that were released during the middle of this decade, and refers to the growth of technology usage in the field of copyediting. namely, the development of the macintosh computer, the desktop laser printer by hewlett-packard, and a software for desktop publishing called pagemaker created by aldus (a company now under the control of adobe) allowed the revolution to begin. by allowing both individuals and publishing agencies alike to cheaply and effectively begin to edit compositions entirely on-screen rather than by hand, desktop publishing revolution morphed copyediting into the practice it is today. most copyeditors today rely on more modern wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) text processors such as microsoft word that are based on the original pagemaker to do their work.