Cut, copy and paste inventor dies

Lawrence Tesler, the pioneering computer scientist who invented the widely used editing commands "cut, copy and paste" has died at the age of 74.

Larry Tesler in 2007 Wikimedia Commons

Bronx-born Lawrence "Larry" Tesler died this week aged 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.

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

A graduate of Stanford University, Tesler specialised in human-computer interaction, employing his skills at Amazon, Apple, Yahoo, and the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC).

The cut and paste command was inspired by old-time editing that involved actually cutting portions of printed text and affixing 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 Wednesday.

Today we also bid farewell to computing visionary Larry Tesler. Tesler created the idea of “cut, copy, & paste” and combined computer science training with a counterculture vision that computers should be for everyone. Watch Tesler’s CHM demo https://t.co/DbH5J7sLbm pic.twitter.com/RMbRSQcYeW

  Computer History Museum (@ComputerHistory) February 20, 2020

The command was made popular by Apple after being incorporated in software on the Lisa computer in 1983 and the original Macintosh that came on the market the following year.

17 years at Apple

Tesler worked for Apple in 1980 after being recruited away from Xerox by late co-founder Steve Jobs.

Tesler spent 17 years at Apple, rising to the position of chief scientist.

He went on to establish an education startup and do stints in user-experience technology at Amazon and Yahoo.