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Bill Atkinson

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Nationality
  
American

Name
  
Bill Atkinson

Role
  
Computer Engineer


Bill Atkinson Apple Mac39s Bill Atkinson still at work on iPhone and iPad

Occupation
  
Engineer, Inventor, Nature Photographer

Known for
  
Part of the Apple Macintosh development team; conceived, designed and implemented HyperCard, the first popular hypermedia system.His book, "Within the Stone," published in 2004.

Books
  
Electrical Installation Designs, Rudy's Lessons for Young Champions: Choices and Challenges

Similar People
  
Andy Hertzfeld, Burrell Smith, Jef Raskin, Susan Kare, Chris Espinosa

Macpaint interview and demonstration with bill atkinson and andy herzfeld


Bill Atkinson (born 1951) is an American computer engineer and photographer. Atkinson worked at Apple Computer from 1978 to 1990.

Contents

Bill Atkinson Bill Atkinson in line to buy his iPhone Flickr Photo

Atkinson was the principal designer and developer of the graphical user interface (GUI) of the Apple Lisa and, later, one of the first thirty members of the original Apple Macintosh development team, and was the creator of the ground-breaking MacPaint application, which fulfilled the vision of using the computer as a creative tool. He also designed and implemented QuickDraw, the fundamental toolbox that the Lisa and Macintosh used for graphics. QuickDraw's performance was essential for the success of the Macintosh GUI. He also was one of the main designers of the Lisa and Macintosh user interfaces. Atkinson also conceived, designed and implemented HyperCard, the first popular hypermedia system. HyperCard put the power of computer programming and database design into the hands of nonprogrammers. In 1994, Atkinson received the EFF Pioneer Award for his contributions.

Bill Atkinson Apple legend Bill Atkinson39s new mission Save the

Photocard by bill atkinson


Education

Bill Atkinson wwwnndbcompeople004000125626billatkinsonjpg

He received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego, where Apple Macintosh developer Jef Raskin was one of his professors. Atkinson continued his studies as a graduate student in neurochemistry at the University of Washington. Raskin invited Atkinson to visit him at Apple Computer; Steve Jobs persuaded him to join the company immediately as employee #51, and Atkinson never finished his PhD.

Career

Bill Atkinson Bill Atkinson In Photos Apple Alumni Where Are They

Around 1990, General Magic's founding, with Bill Atkinson as one of the three cofounders, met the following press in Byte magazine:

Bill Atkinson Bill Atkinson PhotoCard App Demo YouTube

The obstacles to General Magic's success may appear daunting, but General Magic is not your typical start-up company. Its partners include some of the biggest players in the worlds of computing, communications, and consumer electronics, and it's loaded with top-notch engineers who have been given a clean slate to reinvent traditional approaches to ubiquitous worldwide communications.

In 2007, Atkinson began working as an outside developer with Numenta, a startup working on computer intelligence. On his work there Atkinson said, "what Numenta is doing is more fundamentally important to society than the personal computer and the rise of the Internet."

Currently, Atkinson has combined his passion for computer programming with his love of nature photography to create art images. He takes close-up photographs of stones that have been cut and polished. His works are highly regarded for their resemblance to miniature landscapes which are hidden within the stones. Atkinson’s 2004 book Within the Stone features a collection of his close-up photographs. The highly intricate and detailed images he creates are made possible by the accuracy and creative control of the digital printing process that he helped create.

Some of Atkinson's noteworthy contributions to the field of computing include:

  • Macintosh QuickDraw and Lisa LisaGraf
  • Atkinson independently discovered the midpoint circle algorithm for fast drawing of circles by using the sum of consecutive odd numbers.
  • Marching ants
  • The double-click
  • Menu bar
  • The selection lasso
  • FatBits
  • MacPaint
  • HyperCard
  • Atkinson dithering
  • Bill Atkinson PhotoCard
  • Atkinson now works as a nature photographer. Actor Nelson Franklin portrayed him in the 2013 film, Jobs.

    References

    Bill Atkinson Wikipedia