- Bill Atkinson died on June 5 After fighting pancreatic cancer. He was 74 years old. Atkinson was one of the oldest apple Employees, responsible for the main Mac program and the user’s graphic interfaces. But he eventually won his president, Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, by creating a copy of the high -level programming language for the Apple II computer in just six days.
Bill AtkinsonWho worked in Apple of 1978 – years after its founding – to 1990, he died on June 5 after the pancreatic cancer, His family wrote on Facebook. It was 74.
Atkinson was the one and 51 employee in Apple, and was personally recruited by Steve Jobs. According to Walter Isaxon jobsAtkinson, a doctorate in neuroscience at that time, initially refused to request Apple to obtain work in the company. But Steve Jobs sent Atkinson a non -refundable plane ticket, then gave him a three -hour stadium about why he joined the company.
“Think of the surfing on the front edge of the wave,” she remembered Jobs told Atkinson about this meeting. “It is really pleasant. Now think about nullifying dogs at the end of that wave. It will not be anywhere near the fun. Come here and make us in the universe.”
Atkinson accepted the work offer – as a result, the PhD degree has never ended.
Atkinson will continue to develop some of the main Apple software, including QuickDraw, which allowed old Apple computers to draw pictures and windows on the screen, and Hypercard, which is an easy -to -use software development group so that creators can build their own applications. He has also developed the Apple Lisa graphic interface, an introduction to Macintosh, and later many Mac user interfaces. But his first job is to develop a program that can track stock governor. The program would write down the Dow Jones service to get quotes, then hang.
His second project in Apple, though, was in the end how Atkinson won the respect of Jobs.
Jobs was resisting using a new Apple II programming language, one of the oldest and most popular personal computers in Apple that was born many caliphs – including Lisa, Apple III, Apple II Plus, Apple II, Apple IIC, and Apple IIC Plus – although most of these computers, with the exception of Apple failure IIE. Functions at that time resisted Apple II a new programming language, basic thinking, which is the simple programming language that worked to play the original Apple I, was all the Apple II needed forward. Atkinson, however, compress the jobs to build something better.
“Since you are very excited about that, I will give you six days to prove me a mistake,” I told Jobs Atkinson, according to ISAACSON’s biography of Apple’s co -founder.
Certainly, in just six days, ATKINSON created a specialized version of PASCAL, a special level programming language made for Apple II. According to Isiakson, “The jobs are then respectful.”
Atkinson will be left later in 1990 to participate in the establishment of his company, which is called General magicWhich was built by the sects to USB and small touch screens. In 2007, he was an external developer to start a small operation called numberThis is what enhances what we know about human nerves to develop artificial intelligence. But Atkinson spent most of his last years at work as Nature photographerUsing a digital printing process, helped in its creation, and the mobile phone application that has developed, to allow users to remove the postal cards from their digital images to send them via the postage service or email.
Atkinson left his wife and two daughters, Rayeb, the daughter of the father, two sisters, four sisters, his dog, the poppy, according to what he said to him Family message on Facebook.
This story was originally shown on Fortune.com
https://fortune.com/img-assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/GettyImages-956679162_9ff1c4-e1749481311427.jpg?resize=1200,600
Source link