Influential Apple engineer Bill Atkinson dies at 74

A renowned Apple engineer who was instrumental in developing modern-day computing has died. Bill Atkinson, who was part of Apple's original Macintosh development team, died of pancreatic cancer at 74, according to a Facebook post made by his family on June 5.

His contributions to Apple and the Macintosh personal computer are still widely used today, including fundamental UI elements like the menu bar, double-clicking and the selection lasso. However, Atkinson's work goes much deeper than that, since he's partly responsible for the foundational design language that influenced Apple's early days. His legacy includes creating MacPaint, an application that showed the world what a graphics-based system looks like at a time when text-based systems were the norm, and developing QuickDraw, a graphics toolbox that the Macintosh and Lisa computers use. To make computers more user-friendly, Atkinson also designed HyperCard, an Apple application that introduced hypertext to everyday users and not just programmers. Tim Cook paid tribute to Atkinson, posting on X, that he was a “true visionary whose creativity, heart, and groundbreaking work on the Mac will forever inspire us.”

Beyond Apple, Atkinson was one of three co-founders for General Magic, a software and electronics company that supplied products to Motorola and Sony in the 90s. Later, he worked with Numenta in 2007, which was a startup focused on artificial intelligence. Atkinson was also a seasoned nature photographer, publishing a book called Within the Stone that highlights polished and cut rocks with close-up shots. Atkinson is survived by his wife, two daughters, stepson, stepdaughter, two brothers, four sisters, and dog, Poppy.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/influential-apple-engineer-bill-atkinson-dies-at-74-191024913.html?src=rss https://www.engadget.com/computing/influential-apple-engineer-bill-atkinson-dies-at-74-191024913.html?src=rss
Vytvorené 1mo | 8. 6. 2025, 19:20:14


Ak chcete pridať komentár, prihláste sa

Ostatné príspevky v tejto skupine

The Naya Create modular keyboard is now available for purchase

The Naya Create modular keyboard is now available for general purchase after being an exclusive for Kickstarter backers. It features a spli

10. 7. 2025, 21:10:22 | Engadget
Indeed and Glassdoor are cutting more than 1,000 jobs

Job-hunting platforms Indeed and Glassdoor are cutting their workforce, and it may be thanks to good old artificial intelligence. About

10. 7. 2025, 21:10:19 | Engadget
Professor Oak's voice actor, James Carter Cathcart, has died

A prolific voice actor behind Pokémon's Professor Oak and many other classic animated characters has passed away. James Carter Cathcart, who was best known for his voice acting work in ani

10. 7. 2025, 21:10:17 | Engadget
Bluesky is adding age verification features for users in the UK

Bluesky users in the UK will soon need to verify their age if they want continued access to direct messages and all of the service's content. The company will begin rolling out age verification fea

10. 7. 2025, 21:10:16 | Engadget
Amazon Prime Day deals on Kindles and ereaders are still up to 36 percent off

Even the most affordable Kindle usually has a $110 MSRP, so holding out for the best

10. 7. 2025, 18:40:32 | Engadget