Lawrence Gordon Tesler was an American computer scientist who worked in the field of human-computer interaction, specialising in user interface design. Making computer systems more user-friendly.
Chances are you've used copy and paste many times. I think I use the commands every day, on my computer or on my phone. It is the first thing I remember learning about in IT class so many years ago. I had never thought much about it till today when I learned of Larry Tesler.
Tesler studied computer science at Stanford University and started working in Silicon Valley in the early 1960s. His innovations have influenced, inspired and shaped modern computing.
Possibly Tesler's most famous innovation, the cut and paste command, was reportedly based on the old method of editing in which people would physically cut portions of printed text and glue them elsewhere.
Among Tesler's other works is the Gypsy word processor, the first word processor based on a mouse and graphical user interface. Copy and paste command was first implemented in 1973-1976 while Tesla was working with Tim Mott on the Gypsy programming. Gypsy was the second WYSIWYG document preparation program, a successor to the ground-breaking Bravo on the seminal Xerox Alto personal computer.
Tesler joined Apple Computer in 1980 and supported the development of Apple Lisa, a precursor to the Macintosh.
Larry Tesler was a visionary, I have been fascinated to learn about his work and his revolutionary contributions to modern computing that have made all our lives easier
