When you cut, copy, or paste today, thank Larry Tesler: Remembering the computer scientist who revolutionized the user interface - [Spectral Lines]

Larry Tesler, who died this past February at age 74, is the most famous computer scientist most people have never heard of—and one of the nicest guys I've worked with in my years as a tech journalist. I first met him when writing about the amazing things happening at Xerox Parc, when he told me that his groundbreaking work in user-interface design started with his determination to prove that the computer mouse was a bad idea. ¶ "I really didn't believe in it," he said. "I thought cursor keys were much better. We literally took people off the streets who had never seen a computer. In 3 or 4 minutes they were happily editing away using cursor keys. At that point I was going to show them the mouse and prove that they could select text faster than with the cursor keys. Then I was going to show that they didn't like it. ¶ "It backfired. I would have them spend an hour working with the cursor keys. Then I would teach them about the mouse. They would say, ‘That's interesting, but I don't think I need it.’ Then they would play with it a bit, and after 2 minutes they never touched the cursor keys again." ¶ A researcher to the core, Tesler accepted the results of the experiment—but then set out to make the mouse, then a three-button device accompanied by a five-button keypad, better. He simplified the user interface—bringing us the click-and-drag movement to select text and graphics, along with cut, copy, and paste—and paved the way for the one-button mouse that so many of us use today.