Bill Atkinson, one of the truly great pioneering engineers has left us too soon at age 74. His impact on the creation of the Macintosh and other gamechanging Apple products is immeasurable, but he ultimately succumbed to his fight against pancreatic cancer. His family members, confirming his death on Facebook, said Atkinson had been battling cancer since last year.
Atkinson’s path with Apple began in September 1980 when he was hired as the company’s 51st employee. During his time there, he helped define the technology landscape of the company’s infancy. His combination of artistic vision, engineering genius and creativity served as the touchstone that created the foundation of every revolutionary product. He was celebrated as a complete genius and master artist whose enormous imagination and spirit forever changed the world of technology.
Steven Levy, the stalwart technology journalist, eulogized Atkinson’s legacy as well. Joe Schaeffer laid out Atkinson’s impressive legacy in a eulogy on Wired’s blog. To Levy’s credit, Levy pinpointed Atkinson’s genius for both programming and design, emphasizing that it was Atkinson’s artistry which created the interfaces to computing we now take for granted.
John Gruber, the founder of Daring Fireball and noted Apple expert, tweeted this beautiful thought. He called Atkinson, “may well have been the best computer programmer who ever lived.” This peer recognition is further testament to Atkinson’s deep and lasting impact on the field of computer science, and the technology community as a whole.
After his initial diagnosis, Atkinson reflected on his life in a Facebook post, stating he had “already led an amazing and wonderful life.” Until the end, his family, friends and colleagues were strongly aligned with this view. They chose to remember him not only for his many professional accomplishments but as a man who fulfilled his passion for nature photography after retirement.
Apple’s current CEO, Tim Cook, celebrated Atkinson’s contributions. He referred to him as “a true visionary whose creative spirit, passionate heart, and pioneering work on the Mac will always inspire us.” Even the CEO of Apple acknowledged Atkinson’s indelible influence. His influence literally defined that company and its culture.
In fact, over the course of his career, Atkinson’s work was lauded seven times with awards for its creativity and influence. With that spirit, he will see greater contributions to the future of technology from the generations of engineers and makers his legacy will inspire.
