Larry Tesler.Lawrence "Larry" Tesler died this week.
If you've ever saved time, effort and stress by simply using the "cut, copy and paste" function on your computer, you have Lawrence "Larry" Tesler to thank for it.
Mr. Tesler was a pioneering computer scientist who has died at the age of 74, according to Xerox, where he spent part of his career.
"The inventor of cut/copy & paste, find & replace, and more was former Xerox researcher Larry Tesler," the company tweeted.
"Your workday is easier thanks to his revolutionary ideas. Larry passed away Monday, so please join us in celebrating him."
The inventor of cut/copy & paste, find & replace, and more was former Xerox researcher Larry Tesler. Your workday is easier thanks to his revolutionary ideas. Larry passed away Monday, so please join us in celebrating him. Photo credit: Yahoo CC-By-2.0 https://t.co/MXijSIMgoA pic.twitter.com/kXfLFuOlon
— Xerox (@Xerox) February 19, 2020
The cut and paste command was reportedly inspired by old time editing that involved actually cutting portions of printed text and sticking them elsewhere with adhesive.
"Tesler created the idea of 'cut, copy, & paste' and combined computer science training with a counterculture vision that computers should be for everyone," the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley tweeted yesterday.
The command was made popular by Apple after being incorporated in software on the Lisa computer in 1983 and the original Macintosh that debuted the next year.
