Sweating Bullets: Notes about Inventing PowerPoint

Robert Gaskins

ISBN 10: 0985142405 / ISBN 13: 9780985142407

Published by Touchladybirdlucky Studios Apr 2012, 2012

About this Item

Neuware - PowerPoint was the first presentation software designed for Macintosh andWindows, received the first venture capital investment ever made by Apple, thenbecame the first significant acquisition ever made by Microsoft, and is nowtwenty-five years later, installed on over one billion computers worldwide.Robert Gaskins (who invented the idea, managed its design and developmentand then headed the new Microsoft group) has written this book to commemoratethe twenty-fifth anniversary of PowerPoint, recounting stories of the perilsnarrowly evaded as a startup, dissecting the complexities of being the firstdistant development group in Microsoft, and explaining decisions and insightsthat enabled PowerPoint to become a lasting success.

Seller Inventory # 9780985142407

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Sweating Bullets: Notes about Inventing PowerPoint
• Publisher: Touchladybirdlucky Studios Apr 2012
• Publication Date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0985142405
• ISBN 13: 9780985142407
• Binding: Buch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 235W x 157H x 34D millimeters 235 millimeters width by 157 millimeters height by 34 millimeters depth
• Weight: 991 grams

About this title

Synopsis

PowerPoint was the first presentation software designed for Macintosh and Windows, received the first venture capital investment ever made by Apple, then became the first significant acquisition ever made by Microsoft, and is now, twenty-five years later, installed on over one billion computers worldwide. Robert Gaskins (who invented the idea, managed its design and development, and then headed the new Microsoft group) has written this book to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of PowerPoint, recounting stories of the perils narrowly evaded as a startup, dissecting the complexities of being the first distant development group in Microsoft, and explaining decisions and insights that enabled PowerPoint to become a lasting success.

About the Author

Robert Gaskins invented PowerPoint, drawing on ten years of interdisciplinary graduate study at UC Berkeley and five years as manager of computer science research for an international telecommunications R&D laboratory in Silicon Valley.

He managed the design and development of PowerPoint as a startup, where the idea attracted the first venture capital investment ever made by Apple Computer. PowerPoint was released for Macintosh in 1987, and soon afterward, it became the first significant acquisition ever made by Microsoft, who set up a new business unit in Silicon Valley to develop it further. Gaskins headed this new Microsoft group for another five years, completing versions of the PowerPoint product which contributed to the explosive early growth of Microsoft Windows and to the dominance of the Microsoft Office bundle. 

He has written this book to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of PowerPoint's first shipment, recounting stories of the perils narrowly evaded as a startup, dissecting the complexities of being the first distant development group in Microsoft, and explaining decisions and insights that enabled PowerPoint to become a lasting success well beyond its original business uses.