Visionary Mac software engineer, Bill Atkinson, helped shape the Mac and the future of GUIs.
Bill Atkinson, one of the original engineers on the Macintosh team, whose ripple of creative contributions has impacted billions of people, passed away last week from pancreatic cancer.
Bill was a giant in Silicon Valley. He was one of the most critical members of the Mac Team and created QuickDraw and MacPaint. I vividly remember when MacPaint was demonstrated during the introduction of the Mac in 1984, and like most of us in the audience, I was in awe of the new user interface of the Mac. Indeed, MacPaint was the key app demonstrated at the Mac launch that showed us the potential of the Mac and a graphical user interface.
He was a brilliant software engineer for Apple, creating software that allowed users to display shapes, images, and text on the screen and present a simulated “desktop.”
My friend John Markhoff, writing in the New York Times, explained Mr. Atkinson’s major contributions to the Mac and his impact on graphical user interfaces-
“It was Mr. Atkinson who programmed QuickDraw, a foundational software layer used for both the Lisa and Macintosh computers; composed of a library of small programs, it made it possible to display shapes, text and images on the screen efficiently.
The QuickDraw programs were embedded in the computers’ hardware, providing a distinctive graphical user interface that presented a simulated “desktop,” displaying icons of folders, files and application programs.
Mr. Atkinson is credited with inventing many of the key aspects of graphical computing, such as “pull down” menus and the “double-click” gesture, which allows users to open files, folders and applications by clicking a mouse button twice in succession.”
While Mr. Atkinson’s contributions to the Mac GUI and functionality were many, he developed another program that, when he showed it to me in 1987, convinced me it could dramatically impact computing in the future.
Atkinson conceived, designed, and implemented HyperCard, an early and influential system. HyperCard put the power of computer programming and database design into the hands of non-programmers.
Introduced by Apple in 1987, HyperCard was a groundbreaking software tool that combined the flexibility of a database, the creativity of a graphic design tool, and the power of a programming environment into a single, user-friendly application for Macintosh computers. Its core metaphor was the “stack” of virtual “cards.” Each card functioned like a page or screen, capable of holding text, images, buttons, and fields, and users could navigate between cards to create interactive, non-linear experiences.
One of HyperCard’s most innovative features was its built-in programming language, HyperTalk, which enabled users to script behaviors for card objects—such as buttons or fields—without needing advanced programming knowledge. This language made HyperCard accessible to many users, from educators and artists to business professionals, who could rapidly prototype applications, build databases, create interactive presentations, or even develop simple games.
Its influence extended beyond its original purpose: HyperCard inspired the development of early web browsers and scripting languages like JavaScript, and its concepts of hyperlinking and user-generated content anticipated the World Wide Web.
The concept of hyperlinking caused me to tell The Washington Post at the time that, “We’re talking about a new way of delivering information. The fundamentals of the technology have been there awhile. The blending is happening now.”
Web browsers basically hyperlink information in context, and Bill Atkinson saw this in 1987, well before we had web browsers and the public Internet.
The last time I saw Bill and spoke with him was on Jan 24, 2024, at the 40th anniversary celebration of the Mac. This event celebrated the original Mac team and it was a historic gathering. Here is a link to the video of the celebration. If you have time, it is worth watching many of the original Mac team members talk about their creations.
Bill Atkinson was regarded as one of the heroes of Silicon Valley and will be greatly missed.
Disclosure: Apple subscribes to Creative Strategies research reports along with many other high tech companies around the world.
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