Computer Scientist Who Pioneered ‘Copy’ and ‘Paste’ Has Died

NEW YORK (AP) — The Silicon Valley pioneer who created the now-ubiquitous computer concepts such as “cut,” “copy” and “paste” has died.

Larry Tesler was 74. He made using computers easier for generations as a proponent of what he called “modeless editing." That meant a user wouldn't have to use a keyboard to switch between modes to write and edit, for example.

At Xerox, he pioneered concepts such as moving text through cut and paste and inserting text by clicking on a section and just typing. He continued that at Apple and later worked for Amazon, Yahoo and the genetics-testing service 23andMe.