undefined | Better HN

0 pointslioeters1y ago0 comments

> Tom Knoll

I recognize this name from the screenshot of Photoshop version 1.

https://www.webdesignmuseum.org/uploaded/web-design-history/...

Thomas Knoll: Complete Biography, History, and Inventions - https://history-computer.com/people/thomas-knoll-complete-bi...

Was he an "artisan of software"? I imagine back then most programmers were artisans, but maybe that's because I've only heard of the exceptional ones who made a mark in history with innovations that require an artisanal approach and not by mere "replaceable people".

(That term makes me throw up a bit, it's an insult to our humanity. I understand businesses and factories need replaceable people, but nobody wants to be one. Besides, if they're so replaceable, "AI" and robots will replace them in the near future.)

0 comments

ChrisMarshallNY1y ago

He’s the original author of Photoshop, along with his brother John, who used to run the ILM Effects team.

I saw Photoshop before Adobe brought it. It was running on a Mac II, in a hospital, in Ann Arbor. Back then, it was still his thesis project.

I have no idea if he was an “artisan.” We never really thought of ourselves in such terms. Software was much more of a fun game, but the introduction of huge piles of money changed everything.