Larry Tesler, the father of 'copy and paste' dies

You might not know Larry Tesler’s name, but I can guarantee you used something he created.

This former Apple computer scientist, the inventor of some of the world’s most common user interface tools — including the copy-paste — died this week at the age of 74, according to a report from AppleInsider and an obituary from Xerox.

In 1973, Tesler joined the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), where he worked with Tim Mott to create the Gypsy text editor.

It was within Gypsy that he created the modeless method for copying and moving parts of text, which we now know as cutting, copying, pasting. You can still view his modest-looking CV on his website here, in which he talks about the work he did while at the company.

Tesler was the person who was assigned to show Steve Jobs around PARC in 1979, a presentation which included Xerox’s Alto computer and its user interface. According to CNET, Jobs called the work “a goldmine,” and later persuaded Tesler to join Apple. Tesler worked there for almost 20 years, being promoted to the position of Chief Scientist in 1993.

He worked on various projects, including Lisa, Newton, and Macintosh. He’s also credited with convincing Apple to invest in Advanced RISC Machines (ARM). Modern iPhones still benefit from this investment, as iOS devices run on ARM-based processors.

After he left in 1997, he worked at Amazon, Yahoo, and 23andMe. According to his most recent CV entry, he was doing private consulting work in “user experience management/research/design/programming for desktop/web/mobile/TV/print” in California._Agencies.


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