Robert Gaskins

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Robert Gaskins is an American software developer. He is one of the creators of PowerPoint, and an expert and author on the history of the English concertina.

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Education and professional work

Gaskins was educated in Computer Science at University of California, Berkeley, and subsequently did interdisciplinary graduate study in literature and computing. [1]

In the early 1980s Gaskins worked five years as manager of computer science research at Bell Northern Research, an international telecommunications R&D laboratory in Silicon Valley. [1] Subsequently, he joined Forethought, Inc., where the development of PowerPoint was begun. [2]

Gaskins was the entrepreneur behind the development of PowerPoint, later known as Microsoft PowerPoint after acquisition by Microsoft in the early 1990s. Lee Gomes wrote in The Wall Street Journal : [3]

Robert Gaskins was the visionary entrepreneur who in the mid-1980s realized that the huge but largely invisible market for preparing business slides was a perfect match for the coming generation of graphics-oriented computers.

Many original documents written by Robert Gaskins during the early history of PowerPoint's strategy and development are online for public access. [4]

After leaving Microsoft, Gaskins became somewhat renowned as an expert on the history of the English concertina. [5] [6] [7]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Robert Gaskins" . Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  2. Gaskins, Robert (2012). Sweating Bullets: Notes about Inventing PowerPoint. Vinland Books. ISBN   9780985142421 . Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  3. Gomes, Lee (2007-06-20). "PowerPoint Turns 20, As Its Creators Ponder A Dark Side to Success". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  4. Gaskins, Robert. "PowerPoint History Documents" . Retrieved 4 June 2015.
  5. Atlas, Allan (2009-12-05). "George Grove's Article on the 'Concertina' in the First Edition of A Dictionary of Music and Musicians (1878) — Introduction". International Concertina Association — Historical Document series. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  6. "Wheatstone & Co. Concertina Ledgers at the Horniman Museum, London". Horniman Museum. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  7. Williams, Wes (2013). "Concertina History". Concertina History Resource. Retrieved 2018-03-14.