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Software Hardware Apple

Larry Tesler, Computer Scientist Who Created Cut, Copy, and Paste, Dies At 74 (gizmodo.com) 66

Posted by BeauHD from the rest-in-peace dept.
Larry Tesler, a computer scientist who created the terms "cut," "copy," and "paste," has passed away at the age of 74. Gizmodo reports: Born in 1945 in New York, Tesler went on to study computer science at Stanford University, and after graduation he dabbled in artificial intelligence research (long before it became a deeply concerning tool) and became involved in the anti-war and anti-corporate monopoly movements, with companies like IBM as one of his deserving targets. In 1973 Tesler took a job at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) where he worked until 1980. Xerox PARC is famously known for developing the mouse-driven graphical user interface we now all take for granted, and during his time at the lab Tesler worked with Tim Mott to create a word processor called Gypsy that is best known for coining the terms "cut," "copy," and "paste" when it comes to commands for removing, duplicating, or repositioning chunks of text.

Xerox PARC is also well known for not capitalizing on the groundbreaking research it did in terms of personal computing, so in 1980 Tesler transitioned to Apple Computer where he worked until 1997. Over the years he held countless positions at the company including Vice President of AppleNet (Apple's in-house local area networking system that was eventually canceled), and even served as Apple's Chief Scientist, a position that at one time was held by Steve Wozniak, before eventually leaving the company.

In addition to his contributions to some of Apple's most famous hardware, Tesler was also known for his efforts to make software and user interfaces more accessible. In addition to the now ubiquitous "cut," "copy," and "paste" terminologies, Tesler was also an advocate for an approach to UI design known as modeless computing, which is reflected in his personal website. In essence, it ensures that user actions remain consistent throughout an operating system's various functions and apps. When they've opened a word processor, for instance, users now just automatically assume that hitting any of the alphanumeric keys on their keyboard will result in that character showing up on-screen at the cursor's insertion point. But there was a time when word processors could be switched between multiple modes where typing on the keyboard would either add characters to a document or alternately allow functional commands to be entered.
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Larry Tesler, Computer Scientist Who Created Cut, Copy, and Paste, Dies At 74 More

Larry Tesler, Computer Scientist Who Created Cut, Copy, and Paste, Dies At 74

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  • Such a time... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 19, 2020 @05:10PM (#59744718)

    But there was a time when word processors could be switched between multiple modes where typing on the keyboard would either add characters to a document or alternately allow functional commands to be entered

    i
    Once upon a time
    Esc
    :wq!

    • We call them text editors now.
      I do like how vi is setup for minimum keyboard hand movement, and worked well on a day before 101+ key keyboards, and a mouse.
      But we wouldn't call them word processors now. As the most advanced text editor and the most advanced word processors do very different things well.

    • Re:Such a time... (Score:4, Informative)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 ) <slashdot&worf,net> on Wednesday February 19, 2020 @06:20PM (#59744994)

      But there was a time when word processors could be switched between multiple modes where typing on the keyboard would either add characters to a document or alternately allow functional commands to be entered

      i
      Once upon a time
      Esc :wq!

      You laugh, but there was a time when every PC keyboard you ran across had a little strip of paper on top of the function keys that highlighted a different function depending on whether it was pressed alone, or with a modifier key (shift/ctrl/alt). It was a wonder why no keyboard manufacturer back then simply didn't just print it on their keyboards since everyone photocopied and taped it on their keyboards.

      I'm talking about, of course, the WordPerfect key command reference everyone taped/copied/pirated/etc.

      https://www.retrothing.com/200... [retrothing.com]

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by cusco ( 717999 )

        Primary one I remember was F12 - Reveal Codes.

      • >I'm talking about, of course, the WordPerfect key command reference everyone taped/copied/pirated/etc.

        Nonsense. Where I worked it was the OrCad (for Dos) function key strip.

      • It was a wonder why no keyboard manufacturer back then simply didn't just print it on their keyboards since everyone photocopied and taped it on their keyboards.

        I don't recall seeing anything of the sort, and yes I'm that old. I do remember that you could do such a thing, but didn't actually see it in use. Perhaps if you worked in an office that used just one piece of software all day.

        • If you want to go old.... the Lear Siegler ADM-3A terminal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADM-3A) had the cursor arrows printed on the H, J, K and L keys. And, with little that bit of history, we also know why vi/m still use those keys for cursor movements in the command mode. Also, the Control key is next to the A (where it belongs!).

          A little bit newer and closer to your point, the Commodore VIC-20 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_VIC-20) and C-64 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_64) had

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by doom ( 14564 )

            And, for what it's worth, I still think WordStar 3.3 on CP/M was an outstanding word processor (as was the DOS version),

            It certainly was: WordStar worked out how to provide a powerful keyboard interface and make it "discoverable", with a beginner's mode that used about half of the screen to give you a menu of key commands you might want to hit next. This was a context-dependent menu that would change if you were entering a two-keystroke command, displaying possible second key strokes after you entered o

    • Or, if you were in BBSs, the ubiquitous:

      .s
      arrghh!!!

    • In heck, every word processor is Vim.

  • C64 (Score:4, Insightful)

    by sprins ( 717461 ) on Wednesday February 19, 2020 @05:24PM (#59744780)

    GEOS on the Commodore 64 introduced me to the terms "cut," "copy," and "paste,"

  • CMD X for good (Score:3)

    by Applehu Akbar ( 2968043 ) on Wednesday February 19, 2020 @05:30PM (#59744804)

    Hail and farewell, Larry.

  • Rest in Paste (Score:5, Funny)

    by MillionthMonkey ( 240664 ) on Wednesday February 19, 2020 @05:32PM (#59744812)
    This guy helped me write all the code I ever stole from Stackoverflow.

  • It seems pretty obvious to me, that when we manage to get cloning working for humans this is the first one we bring back, right?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by MrKaos ( 858439 )

      It seems pretty obvious to me, that when we manage to get cloning working for humans this is the first one we bring back, right?

      Just paste his genome into the cloning application.

    • Bet the first thing he says is, "Hey you kids, get off of my lawn!"

  • "he dabbled in artificial intelligence research (long before it became a deeply concerning tool)"
     
    What? AI is a "deeply concerning tool"? What is concerning about it? Do people think AI is some sort of new magic?

    • The concern is that it often fails horribly, see: Tesla.

      • he concern is that it often fails horribly, see: Tesla.

        You mean the system with the best driver assist currently on the planet, that works for hundreds of thousands without issue?

        Seems like you need to learn what "often" means. But then I guess it makes sense a Tesla hater would have trouble with what words mean, since the rise in Tesla's fortunes has repeatedly struck them upside the head. That's the only way to explain how there are any shorts left...

        • Tesla brought this sentiment upon themselves when they intentionally confusingly misnamed their cruise control.

          • Tesla brought this sentiment upon themselves when they intentionally confusingly misnamed their cruise control.

            Cruise control on a Tesla is cruise control and it's called 'cruise control'.

            The thing they call autopilot is very different, but the analogy with airplane autopilot is very appropriate. It does much of the driving work for you, but you are still in charge and required to pay attention.

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by AuMatar ( 183847 )

              Autopilot to anyone who isn't a Tesla employee means "full self driving without human intervention". You know, something where you can put it on autopilot and ignore it. That is not what Tesla provides, and they should not be legally allowed to call it that. Now if they want to advertise their awesome driver assist functionality, be my guest. Make up a trademark for it that isn't a common term.

              • You didn't read the manual did you? Or read the warnings when you enabled autopilot.

                The car leaves you in no doubt that that you are supposed to be paying attention and keeping your hands on the wheel.

                What you are calling autopilot is actually called "Self Driving" or in marketing speak "Full Self Driving". Autopilot is based on the aviation term and has a very similar meaning - it's automating some of the job of driving, but you still need to be paying attention and ready to take over. Redefining 'autopilo

                • Re: (Score:2)

                  by AuMatar ( 183847 )

                  No. I speak english. Autopilot has had a meaning for 50 years, and Tesla's offering doesn't live up to it. Its not only deceitful, it's outright dangerous and HAS cost lives. They marketing people should be in jail for it.

    • Re:Deeply concerning (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Roger W Moore ( 538166 ) on Wednesday February 19, 2020 @06:15PM (#59744970) Journal

      What? AI is a "deeply concerning tool"? What is concerning about it?

      In today's world, natural stupidity is far more dangerous than artificial intelligence.

    • The concerning aspect about AI is the vast amounts of data which it can eat and digest. Most AI's are not used for practical purposes. They are used to process personal data about individuals, sometimes without their transparent knowledge or expressed consent, after which the output is then sold to other companies. That is what is concerning.

    • Because people are using it to make decisions that really should be left to humans. If an AI fucks up, who do you hold responsible?

  • Please tell me he wasn't the idiot who came up with "CTL-V" for copy?

    • If you have a standard qwerty keyboard, perhaps check where the x,c, and v keys are located and think about that.
    • No, he was the idiot that came up with ctrl-v for paste. ;-)

      He explained once that he liked how the V shape kind of looked like an arrow pointing down and felt it made sense.

    • Ctrl-V is for Paste
      however it is a good tradeoff being that, you can cut x copy c and paste v in the same spot with a QWERTY keyboard, right next to the ctrl key makes it an easy one handed gesture.

      Heck with a proper Unix Qwerty layout it is even better. Because the Ctrl and Tab are right next to each other. Allowing you to paste fields in a GUI screen.

  • A world changer (Score:4, Insightful)

    by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ) on Wednesday February 19, 2020 @06:11PM (#59744954) Journal

    This guy literally changed the way the world works and was an unsung hero.

    Imagine your day-to-day life without the utility of cut/copy/paste. Computers would be nearly unusable.

    Rest in peace, sir, and thank you.

    • This guy literally changed the way the world works and was an unsung hero.

      Imagine your day-to-day life without the utility of cut/copy/paste. Computers would be nearly unusable.

      Rest in peace, sir, and thank you.

      Yeah, we'd have had to use "kill, yank and save" instead. I'll grant that Tesler's names were better, but he was hardly the only one to invent the concept.

    • Imagine your day-to-day life without the utility of cut/copy/paste.

      I imagine it would be a lot like owning an iPhone.

      • Imagine your day-to-day life without the utility of cut/copy/paste.

        I imagine it would be a lot like owning an iPhone.

        In 2007, maybe.

    • Imagine your day-to-day life without the utility of cut/copy/paste. Computers would be nearly unusable.

      Hm, ok, yeah. But that's some of the features that become an obvious need, which are part of the logical software evolution path ; not to undervalue his work, but if this guy wouldn't have "invented" it, someone else would have not so long after him. After the first vehicle was created someone had to think about the brakes.

  • It is funny, after all these years, I haven't really seen any OS handle copy and paste well. Most are manageable. but not great.

    But my biggest problem with copy and paste is the it made it lazy for developers not to include an API or a Pipe into the program so you can do stuff without a keyboard.

  • Kidding aside, thank you sir for your Word-changing contribution =)

    Ctl-C,Ctl-X, and Ctl-V are as critical to most applications as the WASD keys in FPS games.

  • If only he had invented Ctrl-Z

  • I never knew your name until today, yet I use your innovations everyday.

    Thanks Larry! Thanks Larry! Thanks Larry!

  • Having just watched Frontline's documentary on Amazon [youtube.com], I couldn't help but think of Steve Yegge's rant. In one part of the documentary it shows Bezos being in love with his website, very early in Amazon's life. I recalled Yegge saying something about Larry doing a bunch of usability testing and saying how Amazon was crap but Bezos didn't care. And now I find out Larry just pasted away. Strange coincidence. Anyway, here is the quote from Yegge:

    "Jeff Bezos is an infamous micro-manager. He micro-manages every single pixel of Amazon's retail site. He hired Larry Tesler, Apple's Chief Scientist and probably the very most famous and respected human-computer interaction expert in the entire world, and then ignored every goddamn thing Larry said for three years until Larry finally -- wisely -- left the company. Larry would do these big usability studies and demonstrate beyond any shred of doubt that nobody can understand that frigging website, but Bezos just couldn't let go of those pixels, all those millions of semantics-packed pixels on the landing page. They were like millions of his own precious children. So they're all still there, and Larry is not.

    ... The other big realization he had was that he can't always build the right thing. I think Larry Tesler might have struck some kind of chord in Bezos when he said his mom couldn't use the goddamn website. It's not even super clear whose mom he was talking about, and doesn't really matter, because nobody's mom can use the goddamn website. In fact I myself find the website disturbingly daunting, and I worked there for over half a decade. I've just learned to kinda defocus my eyes and concentrate on the million or so pixels near the center of the page above the fold.

    I'm not really sure how Bezos came to this realization -- the insight that he can't build one product and have it be right for everyone. But it doesn't matter, because he gets it. There's actually a formal name for this phenomenon. It's called Accessibility, and it's the most important thing in the computing world."

    - https://gist.github.com/chitch... [github.com]

    May the next life's c

  • After graduating, started a new programming job with a established business. This is the late 80's, and I was working with a senior developer. We were doing some database design, and she asked me to help her do some cut and paste. She comes in the room with the printed diagram, scissors, a razor knife and a tube of paste. The white stuff you would use at school. We were literally cutting and pasting.

  • Larry Tesler, Computer Scientist Who Created Cut, Copy, and Paste, Dies At 74 (gizmodo.com)39
    Posted by BeauHD on Wednesday February 19, 2020 @05:00PM from the rest-in-peace dept
    >> Larry Tesler, a computer scientist who created the terms "cut," "copy," and "paste," has passed away at the age of 74.
    >> Gizmodo reports:
    >>>> Born in 1945 in New York, Tesler went on to study computer science at Stanford University, and after graduation he dabbled in ...

  • Iâ(TM)m still waiting for my keyboard with dedicated keys for cut, copy, paste.

    Iâ(TM)d pay extra for additional keys for âoesaveâ and âoesmileyâ :)

  • I knew Larry in the 1960s (Score:5, Interesting)

    by John_Sauter ( 595980 ) <John_Sauter@systemeyescomputerstore.com> on Thursday February 20, 2020 @03:27AM (#59746092) Homepage

    I knew Larry Tesler in the 1960s, when we were both at Stanford. The first text editor I used was an IBM 026 keypunch, which was modeless: every key had a dedicated function, usually involving punching holes in cards. There was also a program called TVEDIT on the PDP-1. It was not modeless, having insert and overtype modes, but the modes were easily visible on the screen since the cursor would point to a character in overtype mode, but between two characters in insert mode. I don't know that Larry had anything to do with TVEDIT, but he was in the right place at the right time to influence it, or have been influenced by it.

    Another 1960s text editor was TECO (Text Editor and Corrector). Like VI, it had separate command and insert modes. Because its user interface was a teletype (the prototype for today's terminal emulator), it could not display its mode in real time. Perhaps Larry's preference for modeless text editors was a reaction to TECO.

    Rest in peace, old friend.

  • When I first started in my IT career we were using dumb terminals. For some of the younger crowd, these terminals were text only, no mouse and really no smart functions. So when you edited a program, and yes at the time I was writing COBOL, you had to remember the variables and retype them over and over again as you referenced them. The text editors then were pretty dumb, so there were no hints or highlights for obvious syntax errors. We did a lot of redundant typing back then.

    Then we moved to DOS compu

  • No more modes.

  • Thank him for his contribution to their education.

  • Larry Tesler extended to computers the existing terms used in manual text composition (cut, paste, etc.) that described physical actions for laying out things like newspapers. You literally cut text out with scissors and pasted it down with glue in pre-production. This is still being done today although it's less and less common.

    Extending the well understood cut and paste paradigm into the world of computers as a UX metaphor and paradigm was brilliant and deserves recognition. But surely I'm not the only

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