"I thought if we could encourage sharing of ideas between different areas of knowledge, perhaps more of the bigger picture would emerge, and eventually more wisdom might develop, (...) Sort of a trickle-up theory of information leading to knowledge leading to wisdom."

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/07/technology/bill-atkinson-dead.html

#RIPBillAtkinson

Bill Atkinson, Who Made Computers Easier to Use, Is Dead at 74

A designer for Apple, he created software that made it possible to display shapes, images and text on the screen and present a simulated “desktop.”

The New York Times

I’m not a fan of self-boosting, but I realised I was remiss in not putting some hashtags on this post after it started gaining the small amount of traction it has.

For those who boosted or liked the original, I’m not asking or expecting a repeat. I just hope with these hashtags it gets a little more traction to acknowledge the genius of #BillAtkinson, who affected so many lives through the genius work he did.

I know he impacted many aspects of my life through the work he did on the Mac, the original System, and MacPaint, and it seems many others were similarly impacted.

It’s been truly inspiring for me to see Mac legends talk how he put the lie to the saying “Never meet your heroes”, as he seemed to have been a hero to many, and never a disappointment in person.

RIP, Bill. 

#RIPBillAtkinson #HyperCard #MystGame #Lisa #ClassicMacOS #QuickDraw #Dithering #AtkinsonDithering #ClassicMacs #ClassicMacintosh #Mac128K #MarchingAnts #MacPaint #FatBits
https://social.europlus.zone/@europlus/114645820628589016

europlus :autisminf: (@europlus@europlus.zone)

Just a reminder that the original Myst was developed using HyperCard, one of Bill Atkinson’s many masterpieces. But I’ll always remember how he thought overlapping windows (or perhaps the smooth movement of windows over each other) was a solveable problem because he recalled seeing that Xerox had solved it (they hadn’t), so he just worked it out because he then thought it could be. An amazing mind, now lost to us. RIP Bill, and thank you!

the europlus zone