Larry Tesler: Computer scientist dies aged 74

[TransAmDan]

Computer scientist behind cut, copy and paste dies aged 74

Mr Tesler started working in Silicon Valley in the early 1960s, at a time when computers were inaccessible to the vast majority of people.

It was thanks to his innovations - which included the "cut", "copy" and "paste" commands - that the personal computer became simple to learn and use.

Xerox, where Mr Tesler spent part of his career, paid tribute to him.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51567695

 

[AmericanThunder]

I still remember transferring a typing pool of type writers into PC’s using WordPerfect v5.1.
Copy n’ paste certainly helped but things really took off when the first successful Graphical User Interface took off with Windows v3 and the implementation of What you see is what you get (wysiwyg). It removed much of the pagination issues and printer driver issues that we have before.

 

[Stephen CA]

My knowledge of computer science is minimal. When you visit places like Bletchley Park where the German enigma codes were broken using a computer made by bits of old telephone exchange by a Post Office engineer you realise how ahead of their time the these early pioneers really were. I think it was really hammered home when I visited Kennedy Space Centre and the guide said that most people's digital watches had more processing power than the computers that sent people to the moon. May he rest in peace.

 

[AmericanThunder]

Little known fact is that the pods on the side of the apache attack helicopters we used so effectively in Iraq and Afghanistan are full of ZX series microprocessors, yes that’s right what powered the original ZX spectrum!! All the advanced targeting technology, guided weaponry, fly by wire, air and ground radar and monocle controls are powered by a few ZX Spectrums!!
All be it running at a very over clocked speed and requiring significant cooling.

 

[Stephen CA]

Funnily enough, in the days when I was still doing theatre stuff I worked with a world renowned sound engineer that worked with all the most up to date kit....all triggered by a programme he'd written for his ZX81. Not quite sure what it did exactly, but there it always was sat on top of the sound desk.

 

[TransAmDan]

Copy and Paste is still working, so I guess his spirit lives on.

 

[Stephen CA]

If it wasn't for Copy and Paste we in local government would still be using parchment and quill pens....to be honest I think some local authorities still are....

 

[Will]

Pretty sad news. 74 is no age either these days really. Indeed, it's the work of pioneers like Larry that we often forget and take for granted.
We've come a long way though haven't we. Years ago a mate of mine had a Sinclair ZX81 which had a memory extension attached to the back. It didn't connect too well so he had an elastic band around it. Sometimes it would crash after he had spent ages loading up a game. When that happened, leaving out the swear words he didn't say much lol