Bill Atkinson, one of the most quietly revolutionary minds in computing, has passed away. His creations — QuickDraw, MacPaint, and especially HyperCard — transformed not just the Mac, but how I thought about computing. A thread 🧵… 1/9

When people talk about the “Macintosh Revolution,” they mention Steve Jobs — but Bill Atkinson was the magician behind the curtain. QuickDraw brought fast graphics. MacPaint taught a generation to think visually. For me, it was HyperCard that ignited so much more. 2/9

HyperCard wasn’t just software. It was a philosophy: that ordinary people could make things on computers. No code? No problem. HyperTalk let users express logic in simple, human ways. 3/9

In 2012, I wrote about HyperCard’s 25th anniversary, and how it “empowered a whole generation of passionate, creative people who otherwise never would have had the chance to share their ideas and visions with the world.” 4/9 🔗

HyperCard gave us a “tool for ignition”. It allowed ideas to move from imagination into a visible, working reality — without gatekeepers. That power — the ability to prototype, to play, to build — influenced everything I’ve done since. 5/9

Today, we talk about no-code and visual programming. But Bill Atkinson invented those paradigms when he released HyperCard in 1987. We’re still catching up to his vision. 6/9

Bill believed software should empower. That it should help people create. His later work in photography — shared freely and beautifully — reflected that same ethos of generosity and vision. 7/9

Thank you, Bill Atkinson. Your tools lit the way. Your ideas shaped mine. And your quiet brilliance will continue to ripple through every creative spark your work ignited. 8/9

RIP Bill Atkinson (1951–2025). Your legacy is not just in code. It’s in every person you empowered to think differently, to create fearlessly, and to see what was possible. 9/9