That Time Steve Jobs Taught Bill Atkinson About Rounded Rectangles

Image showing examples of rectangles, ovals, and rounded rectangles.

Here’s a humorous little story from Andy Hertzfeld, a member of Apple’s original Macintosh team. Bill Atkinson did some clever programming to draw circles and ovals quickly on a Mac. But Steve Jobs had something else in mind.

Bill fired up his demo and it quickly filled the Lisa screen with randomly-sized ovals, faster than you thought was possible. But something was bothering Steve Jobs. “Well, circles and ovals are good, but how about drawing rectangles with rounded corners? Can we do that now, too?”

Check It Out: That Time Steve Jobs Taught Bill Atkinson About Rounded Rectangles

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  1. archimedes Subscriber 6 years ago

    folklore.org is great – I also have the print version of it, Revolution in the Valley.

    Reply