PowerPoint software co-creator Dennis Austin dies at 76
Dennis Austin, who co-created the PowerPoint software almost 36 years ago which is still being used by millions, has passed away in the US.
Austin, 76, died from lung cancer that metastasised to the brain, reports The Washington Post.
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Offering CollegeCourseWebsiteIndian School of BusinessISB Professional Certificate in Product ManagementVisitIndian School of BusinessISB Digital TransformationVisitIndian School of BusinessISB Product ManagementVisitIndian School of BusinessISB Applied Business AnalyticsVisitReleased in 1987 by software firm Forethought, PowerPoint was the digital successor to overhead projectors, «transforming the labour-intensive process of creating slides».
The company released the software in 1987, and Microsoft bought the company just a few months later for $14 million.
By 1993, PowerPoint was generating more than $100 million in sales. Microsoft integrated PowerPoint to its suite of Office products, including Word.
Austin served as PowerPoint's primary developer from 1985 to 1996 when he retired.
«Our users were familiar with computers, but probably not graphics software,» Austin wrote in an unpublished history of the software's development.
«They were highly motivated to look their best in front of others, but they weren't savvy in graphics design,» he added.
Working with Robert Gaskins, the Forethought executive who conceived the software, it was Austin's job as the software engineer to make PowerPoint easy to operate.
He accomplished this with a «direct-manipulation interface,» he wrote, meaning that «what you are editing looks exactly like the final product,» the report mentioned.
The goal was «to create presentations, not simply slides.»
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