Larry Tesler, PC legend who created cut, copy and paste commands, dies at 74

Tesler was known for decades of work at Xerox PARC and Apple

Larry Tesler, the former Xerox Palo Alto Research Center and Apple computer scientist bestknown for creating the cut, copy and paste commands for personal computers, died Feb. 16. He was 74 years old.

Tesler got his start in the Silicon Valley computer industry in the

Tesler 1960s, and joined Xerox PARC in 1973. It was at Xerox PARC where Tesler development the cut, copy and paste commands technology that would eventually become part of everyday usage in personal computers.

Xerox paid tribute to Tesler in a company tweet.

“The inventor of cut/ copy & paste, find & replace, and more was former Xerox researcher Larry Tesler,” Xerox tweeted. “Your workday is easier thanks to his revolutionary ideas. Larry passed away, so please join us in celebrating him.”

In addition to his work with cut, copy and paste, Tesler was often credited with coining the term “user friendly,” and was also connected to the phrase “What you see is what you get”, also known as “WSYWIG,” to describe how PCS should work.

Tesler also played a part in one of the most-fateful days in PC history when, in 1979, he demonstrated the Xerox Alto computer to a group of Apple executives and programmers, including Steve Jobs. The Alto is considered to be the first PC designed with a graphical user interface, and seeing the Alto in action inspired Jobs to set Apple on the path toward creating the first Macintosh computer, in 1984.

Tesler joined Apple in 1980 and worked on the Mac, which used his cut, copy and paste commands, and other projects. Tesler would become chief scientist at Apple before leaving the company in 1997.