ICYMI: Cut-copy-paste creator Larry Tesler dies at 74

The computer scientist who invented the cut, copy and paste function, Larry Tesler  died on Monday in San Francisco at the age of 74.

Xerox, whom Tesler worked for from 1973-1980 confirmed the news on Twitter. They wrote, “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.”

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

Tesler was born in the Bronx, New York, in 1945, and studied at Stanford University in California.

He began his career Silicon Valley in the early 1960’s, at a time when computers were inaccessible to the vast majority of people. Then he was recruited by Apple’s founder, Steve Jobs and became the chief scientist.

After leaving Apple, he set up an association for education, and worked for awhile at Amazon and Yahoo.

Cut, copy and paste was incorporated in Apple’s software on the Lisa computer in 1983 and  Macintosh, in the following year.

Through his innovations, computers became simple and easy to learn. He also has saved many students over the years with their homework and thesis reports.

According to Silicon Valley’s History Museum, Tesler was an advocate of tech literacy as he believed that ‘computers should be for everyone’.

Rest in peace to the great inventor.