Apple Visionary Bill Atkinson Dies at Age 74
During his time at Apple, Atkinson worked on several groundbreaking projects. He was instrumental in the development of the Macintosh, contributing not only code but also creative ideas that defined the user experience. Moreover, he played key roles in creating the Lisa computer and QuickDraw, a graphics engine that became fundamental to Apple's graphical interface. He also developed the Magic Slate, an early touch interface that foreshadowed the iPad, and HyperCard, a software tool often seen as a conceptual predecessor to the World Wide Web.
A Legacy of Innovation and Creativity
Atkinson's impact on Apple and the broader tech world cannot be overstated. His work not only influenced future products but also shaped how people interact with computers today. HyperCard, for instance, introduced concepts like linking between cards, which anticipated the hyperlinking used on the internet. This made Atkinson not just a skilled engineer, but also a visionary who saw the potential of technology before others did.
Although he eventually left Apple, Atkinson remained deeply creative. After his time in Silicon Valley, he turned to nature photography. This new passion reflected his lifelong appreciation for beauty and precision. When he was diagnosed with cancer in 2023, he acknowledged the richness of his life, writing that he had 'already led an amazing and wonderful life.'
Tributes from the Tech Community
Following the announcement of his death, tributes poured in from prominent voices in the tech industry. Apple CEO Tim Cook praised him as 'a true visionary whose creativity, heart, and groundbreaking work on the Mac will forever inspire us.' Additionally, technology writer John Gruber said that Atkinson 'may well have been the best computer programmer who ever lived.'
While his physical presence is gone, Atkinson's influence endures in every touchscreen swipe, intuitive interface, and link we click.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arabian Post
a day ago
- Arabian Post
Apple Boosts Message Security with Hidden Unknown-Sender Filter
Apple is introducing a fresh layer of defence in iOS 26's Messages app, giving users the option to silence and segregate texts from unrecognised senders. The update shifts spam and unknown contacts into a separate section, reducing notifications and clutter without permanently blocking messages. Built to enhance user control, the feature adds toggles in Settings under Messages → Unknown & Spam, enabling distinct screening options for unknown senders and suspected spam. When activated, messages from unfamiliar numbers remain accessible, but alerts are muted and the messages populate a dedicated Unknown Senders area within the app. A visual badge on the Filters button signals new content in that section. This method aligns with user expectations for seamless functionality. Previous iterations of 'Filter Unknown Senders' have existed since iOS 15, yet users note they fail to silence all alerts or entirely block presenters. What distinguishes the iOS 26 update is the built-in ability to screen both unknown senders and spam separately. The update ensures that authentication codes or time-sensitive messages bypass the filter, landing directly in the main inbox. ADVERTISEMENT This amplification of privacy tools comes on the heels of similar measures to prevent scam calls. The Phone app in iOS 26 introduces Call Screening, appointing an automated voice assistant to answer unknown calls and ask the caller to identify themselves before passing through to the user. Both mobile and messaging protections are positioned as fragments of a broader effort to counter increasing fraud threats, including AI-based voice cloning scams. Apple's approach prioritises user discretion. Alongside automated handling, users retain the choice to designate a number as 'known' or delete flagged messages. Official Apple guidance from March 2025 already describes message‑filtering filters as optional and reversible. The global rollout anticipates syncing behind-the-scenes machine learning across devices, without sending text content to Apple, reinforcing data privacy, notably in countries like India and Brazil. Expert voices emphasise that the real benefit lies in deleting noise, not siloing messages. 'You won't be notified when an unknown sender texts you,' one analysis explains, 'but you can view them at your discretion'. Tech commentators see this as a maturity in messaging apps: tools should not just filter unwanted content, but do so neatly—without erasing legitimate communications. User feedback on Reddit underlines the pain point: while filters have existed, users report continued spam delivery and notifications, dampening confidence in the utility of the system. The new interface, which introduces visual cues and a dedicated filter button, may finally iron out inconsistencies. By separating unknown senders and suspected spam, Apple appears to adopt a more granular model. The new Flags in Messages allow users to view sections by categories—Messages, Unknown Senders, Spam and Recently Deleted. This mirrors Mail app logic, enhancing consistency across iOS. Key players beyond Apple also factor into the equation. Carrier-level anti-spam services, and third-party message-filter apps are supported through iOS 26's framework. Apple draws attention to carrier participation in reporting forwarded SMS or MMS for analysis—but emphasises that on‑device screening ensures messages remain private. Tech regulators in markets such as the EU are pushing unsolicited content do-not-disturbs similar protections. The timeline is clear: iOS 26's public launch is due in autumn 2025, with beta access rolling out to developers and testers in July. Apple's webpage confirms support across devices compatible with iOS 26, ensuring broad adoption of its antispam ecosystem. This move reflects strategic balance: protecting users while maintaining message integrity. Significant changes include separate sections for unknown senders and spam, silent alerts, visual filters, and bypassing urgent OTPs. Group chat enhancements—polls, custom backgrounds, typing indicators—and translation assistances are also integrated, but privacy stands at the forefront. Wider reception will likely hinge on accuracy. Over-zealous filtering could hide critical messages, while lax filters allow spam to seep in. Apple asserts time-sensitive communications remain visible; industry observers will be watching for real‑world performance. Apple's messaging platform is evolving from passive contact lists to intelligent filtration. Designers of digital communication are increasingly responsible for guarding user attention. With iOS 26's update, Apple negotiates that role more assertively: placing tools in user hands, muting distractions, and elevating personal control—without compromising access to essential messaging.
Zawya
4 days ago
- Zawya
Africa: Make digital giants pay their fair share of taxes
The current international tax sys- tem on digital systems, inher- ited from the 20th century, taxes the factory, not the algorithm. It recognises warehouses, butignores clouds. As a result, the 10 largest platforms (Google, Apple, Meta, TikTok, etc.) generated more than $500bn in rev- enue in 2023, largely escaping taxation. In many developing countries, they pay a tiny fraction of what they should. Meanwhile, tax revenues are eroding, inequalities are widening, and states are losing their means of action. The OECD Agreement, which was sup- posed to tax profits where the users are located and introduce a global minimum tax, has stalled. The US Congress blocked its ratification, and the new Trump ad- ministration buried it by withdrawing the US from the process. Taxation has become a foreign policy tool. This legal vacuum encourages uni- lateral tax measures. Several countries are maintaining or considering their own digital taxes, in the absence of a multilat- eral framework. But the American pressure is formidable: India, a pioneer in this area, announced on 1 April that it was abandon- ing its tax on non-resident companies that earn digital advertising revenue from Indican businesses (2%, yielding €440m in 2022), under the threat of trade reprisals. In Africa, the stakes are high. Accord- ing to the Economic Commission for Af- rica, the continent could lose up to 30% of its VAT revenue by 2030 if nothing is done. Tax administrations, such as that of Kenya, are struggling to trace the digital flows that pass through Amsterdam before disappearing into the Virgin Islands. Governments are under pressure from their people, who are revolting because of the unbearable tax burden, as in the DRC or Kenya. Small taxpayers pay for everyone: how can it be justified that a farmer is taxed on his livestock income, while a multinational raking in millions is exempt? But Africa is not standing by and doing nothing. Kenya introduced a 1.5% tax on the turnover of digital platforms, supple- mented by 16% digital VAT, for an accrual of $78m in 2023. Nigeria has introduced a similar tax framework. These simple and effective models protect local non-digital SMEs while restoring tax equity. These are not 'anti-GAMAM' (Google, Amazon, Meta, Apple, and Microsoft) taxes, but transitional, non-discriminatory measures pending a global agreement. In Europe too, digital taxes have borne fruit, bringing in €350m for France, £430m for the UK. But they are now being tar- geted by Washington. In London, there is a parliamentary debate: should such taxation be maintained despite the threat of sanctions and perhaps bigger tariffs, when the country is planning large budget cuts by 2030? Faced with this impasse, a new bal-ance is possible. In 2024, 110 countries supported a UN framework convention on taxation. Its objectives are to intro- duce a withholding tax on digital services, integrated into bilateral tax treaties; to guarantee egalitarian governance (one country, one vote); and to strengthen the capacity of Southern countries to trace and tax digital flows. This dynamic could take shape in a North–South forum, backed by the UN, with three key missions: pooling good tax practices; coordinating transitional taxes to avoid a disorderly proliferation; and strengthening administrative and technological capacities, particularly with regard to the traceability of digital flows. Pivotal role Europe has a pivotal role to play. On the heels of American tariffs, it has announced the possibility of a tax on American digital services. This wake-up call is beneficial and could inspire many countries in the Global South if a coalition were to form. Europe must maintain diplomatic pressure on Washington to revive the multilateral agreement, while co-constructing an al- ternative with the emerging powers within the framework of this North-South forum. This agile minilateralism – led by India, Brazil, Nigeria, South Africa and Europe (UK and EU) – could structure a post-Western, more balanced and more le- gitimate governance of digital technology. Digital flows are still escaping the tax radar, but not the appetite of the giants. It is time to rewrite the rules of the game. Taxing digital technology does not mean holding back innovation: it means restor- ing fiscal justice, protecting states and reaffirming a fundamental principle – sovereignty is not negotiable. n Abdelmalek Riad, an economist, is Vice- President of Asoria, a digital economy taxa- tion platform. The 10 largest platforms (Google, Apple, Meta, etc.) generated over $500bn in revenue in 2023, but mostly escaped tax. © Copyright IC Publications 2022 Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
TECHx
4 days ago
- TECHx
Canon Announces RF Lenses Compatible with Apple Vision Pro
Home » Top stories » Canon Announces RF Lenses Compatible with Apple Vision Pro Canon Inc. announced that two of its RF lenses for 3D VR video will support the Apple Projected Media Profile (APMP). The lenses include the RF5.2mm F2.8 L DUAL FISHEYE, released in December 2021, and the RF-S3.9mm F3.5 STM DUAL FISHEYE, released in June 2024. APMP is a QuickTime movie profile supported by Apple Vision Pro, the spatial computer developed by Apple Inc. Additionally, Canon revealed that the RF-S7.8mm F4 STM DUAL lens, launched in November 2024, will be compatible with spatial photo technology. This move aims to expand the 3D VR market through ongoing collaboration with Apple. Canon first launched the EOS VR System in 2021 to support VR video production across entertainment, tourism, and education. The company reported that the RF-S7.8mm F4 STM DUAL lens can record spatial video, a type of 3D footage with depth, tailored for Apple Vision Pro. At Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 9, 2025, Apple announced visionOS 26, the latest operating system for Apple Vision Pro. Canon's RF5.2mm and RF-S3.9mm lenses will offer native playback of APMP on visionOS 26, set for release in late 2025. Users can convert footage from these lenses using Canon's EOS VR Utility app. This update will enhance the immersive experience with Apple Vision Pro. Furthermore, the EOS VR Utility update will enable the RF-S7.8mm F4 STM DUAL to handle spatial video and spatial photo when used with Canon mirrorless cameras EOS R7 and EOS R50 V. Canon also reported that the EOS R50, released in March 2023, will gain compatibility with the EOS VR System via a firmware update in mid-July 2025. This update will enable spatial video and spatial photo support. Going forward, Canon stated it will strengthen the EOS VR System through collaboration with Apple. The company aims to meet the creative needs of professional users seeking new immersive storytelling methods. Key points: Canon's RF lenses now compatible with Apple Vision Pro and APMP. New updates enable spatial video and photo with Canon mirrorless cameras. Collaboration with Apple aims to expand 3D VR video production.
