Apple Computer, Inc. Appoints Steve P. Capps as an Apple Fellow
CUPERTINO, Calif. — July 27, 1994 — Apple Computer, Inc. (Nasdaq-NNM: AAPL) announced today that it has appointed Steve P. Capps as an Apple Fellow, a senior research and development position within the company that is awarded only to individuals who have made extraordinary technical contributions to personal computing.
Capps, 39, was the lead engineer instrumental in bringing Newton software to market in the form of the Apple MessagePad, which was launched at Macworld Boston last year. Newton Intelligence, announced at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in May of 1992, is a set of software and hardware technologies that enable Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) products, like the MessagePad, to easily capture, organize and communicate a person's ideas and information.
"This appointment reflects Capps' extraordinary insight, engineering excellence and dedication to the field of personal digital assistants and computing in general," said Shane Robison, vice president of engineering for the Personal Interactive Electronics Division of Apple Computer. "Very few individuals are awarded this prestigious position and Capps now joins the ranks of Alan Kay, Donald Norman and Gary Starkweather as an Apple Fellow."
According to Robison, Capps led the specification and development of the Newton user interface and software development, directed a team of software developers and wrote many portions of the built-in application software. He has more than 20 patents pending for the work he did on the Newton interface. Capps was one of the first engineers to join the then Newton project in the fall of 1987 and continues to lead the direction of the product today.
Prior to joining the Newton Group in the fall 1987, Capps lived in Paris, France, for a year where he wrote computer programs and designed musical toys, culminating in the grant of a number of patents for his work in this area. From 1981 to 1985, Capps worked at Apple, first in the Lisa engineering group, developing printing software and then moved into the Macintosh engineering group, writing software like ResEdit and parts of the original Macintosh System Software. He co-authored the first release of the renowned Macintosh Finder, which provides a visual desktop metaphor for managing applications, files and folders. He authored subsequent versions of the Macintosh Finder until he left Apple in 1985.
Capps holds a degree in computer science from the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). While studying at RIT, he worked full-time at Xerox Corporation in Rochester, N.Y., where he worked in research and development for laser printing and user interfaces.
Capps, a native of Schenectady, N.Y., says his hobbies are programming, music, home building and renovation as well as basketball. He now lives in San Carlos, Calif.
Apple Computer, Inc., a recognized pioneer and innovator in the information industry, creates powerful solutions based on easy to use personal computers, servers, peripherals, software, online services, and personal digital assistants. Headquartered in Cupertino, Apple develops, manufactures, licenses and markets products, technologies and services for the business, education, consumer, scientific & engineering and government markets in over 140 countries.
NOTE: Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, Newton and Lisa are registered trademarks and MessagePad, Newton Intelligence, ResEdit and Finder are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Additional company product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the individual companies and are respectfully acknowledged.
CONTACT:
Emilio Robles of Apple Computer, 408-862-5671