Education
Atkinson continued his studies as a graduate student in neurochemistry at the University of Washington, nearly getting a Doctor of Philosophy.
engineer Photographer programmer
Atkinson continued his studies as a graduate student in neurochemistry at the University of Washington, nearly getting a Doctor of Philosophy.
Atkinson worked at Apple Computer from 1978 to 1990. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego, where Apple Macintosh developer Jef Raskin was one of his professors. He also designed and implemented QuickDraw, the fundamental toolbox that the Lisa and Macintosh used for graphics.
QuickDraw"s performance was essential for the success of the Macintosh"s graphical user interface.
He also was one of the main designers of the Lisa and Macintosh user interfaces. Atkinson also conceived, designed and implemented HyperCard, the first popular hypermedia system.
HyperCard put the power of computer programming and database design into the hands of nonprogrammers. Around 1990, General Magic"s founding, with Bill Atkinson as one of the three co-founders, met the following press in Byte magazine:
Marching ants
The double click
Menu bar
The Selection lasso
FatBits
MacPaint
HyperCard
Atkinson dithering
Bill Atkinson PhotoCard
Atkinson now works as a nature photographer.
Actor Nelson Franklin portrayed him in the 2013 film, Jobs.
Atkinson was one of the first thirty members of the original Apple Macintosh development team, and was the creator of the ground-breaking MacPaint application, which fulfilled the vision of using the computer as a creative tool.