Quick Tip – Learn from the Past

🚀 Remember those who came before us – Issue #137

I’m feeling sad right now and absorbing some bad news. Today, I found out that Larry Tesler passed away.

If you don’t know who Larry is, he was a computer scientist in the field of human-computer interaction and worked at Xerox PARC, Apple, Amazon, and Yahoo. He’s also known as the inventor of modeless text editing, cut/copy & paste, find & replace, and more.

We have Larry to thank for many of the ways we interact with our computers and smartphones, due to his research at PARC and Apple.

The loss is personal for me. Larry was working at Apple when I was there. His legacy was already considerable. I left the year after he did.

I was a young designer who only knew of him. I never worked with him at Apple. But, as fate would have it, I did get another chance to work with Larry later.

When I joined Yahoo, Larry was heading up the entire Design organization for the company. It was a special time, and I remember feeling like Design had a significant role and influence at Yahoo.

I ended up reporting directly to Larry for a while, and I will always appreciate that opportunity. I am thankful for his mentoring and guiding me in my career development. He was very good to me.

I felt the need to write this in part as a small tribute to his memory. I want to express my gratitude. But, I also want people to remember Larry Tesler.

I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in our modern times and especially in the Tech industry. We only celebrate the “New.”

We heap praise upon the modern-day heroes, like Elon Musk. But, we forget so many of those who came before us and paved the way for our success.

I’m disappointed when someone proclaims their “new discovery” of something that was actually created — or already known — decades ago in the industry (e.g., VR, AI, distributed computing, proving the ROI of Design). Sadly, few seem to be aware of the history of their own professions.

All too often, people don’t bother to read, research, and learn from the past. Thus, they are doomed to reinvent the wheel and repeat mistakes that were already solved before.

I apologize if this all comes across as a bit bitter. As I said, I’m still processing the news of Larry’s death, and I’m frustrated that many people don’t know who he was.

We can do better. To thrive and advance as a society, we must do better. If our schools and corporations aren’t educating us well, we must educate ourselves.

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” — George Santayana