PowerPoint History Documents

Andreessen, Marc. 2007. “Part 3: ‘But I Don’t Know Any VCs!’ ” Pmarca Guide to Startups. June 25, 2007. Archived at
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/andreessen-pmarca-guide-to-startups-2007-jun-25.pdf

Austin, Dennis, and Robert Gaskins. 1985. “Presenter [PowerPoint] Design.” 21 August, 1985.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/austin-gaskins-powerpoint-design-1985-aug-21.pdf

Austin, Dennis, and Robert Gaskins. 1985. “Presenter [PowerPoint] Output Samples.” 21 August, 1985.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/austin-gaskins-powerpoint-output-samples-1985-aug-21-1986-feb-21.pdf

Austin, Dennis, Tom Rudkin, and Robert Gaskins. 1986. “Presenter [PowerPoint] Specification.” 22 May, 1986.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/austin-rudkin-gaskins-powerpoint-spec-1986-may-22.pdf

Belleville, Cathy, Lucy Peterson, and Aniko Somogyi. 1997. “PowerPoint: The First Ten Years.” 20 April, 1997.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/belleville-peterson-somogyi-gbu-10-year-reunion-1997-apr.pdf

Cortén, Dick. 2008. “ ‘Big Boost from Berkeley’: Inventing Critical Breakthroughs Behind the Personal Computer.” The Graduate, UC Berkeley Graduate Division, Vol. 20 No. 1, 2008.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/berkeley-thegraduate-2008-bigboost-acro7.pdf

Gaskins, Robert. 1984. “Presenter [PowerPoint] Original Proposal.” 14 August, 1984.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/gaskins-powerpoint-original-proposal-1984-aug-14.pdf

Gaskins, Robert. 1986. “Presenter [PowerPoint] Marketing Analysis.” 27 June, 1986.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/gaskins-powerpoint-marketing-analysis-1986-jun-27.pdf

Gaskins, Robert. 1986. “Presenter [PowerPoint] New Product Summary and Review.” 15 July, 1986.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/gaskins-powerpoint-summary-and-review-1986-jul-15.pdf.pdf

Gaskins, Robert. 1986. “Presenter [PowerPoint] Status Update.” 14 August, 1986.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/gaskins-powerpoint-status-1986-aug-14.pdf

Gaskins, Robert. 1987. “Forethought Future Business Strategy.” 25 May, 1987.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/gaskins-forethought-strategy-1987-may-25.pdf

Gaskins, Robert. 1987. “History of Forethought Since the Restart.” 25 May, 1987.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/gaskins-history-of-forethought-1987-may-25.pdf

Gaskins, Robert. 1987. “Lessons from the Experience of the Restart.” 25 May, 1987.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/gaskins-lessons-of-restart-1987-may-25.pdf

Gaskins, Robert. 1987. “Response to Microsoft.” 1 June, 1987.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/gaskins-response-to-microsoft-1987-jun-01.pdf

Gaskins, Robert. 1987. “Response to Microsoft, Extended.” 15 June, 1987.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/gaskins-response-2-to-microsoft-1987-jun-15.pdf

Gaskins, Robert. 1987. “Results of Microsoft’s Graphics Business Unit after Our First Year.” 8 August, 1988.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/gaskins-gbu-first-year-report-to-microsoft-1988-aug-08.pdf

Gaskins, Robert. 1992. “Photos of GBU on Sand Hill Road, 1992” (PowerPoint presentation; “.pps” is a self-running slide show, “.ppt” is a conventional PowerPoint presentation). Includes good photographs of many of the GBU people. 1992.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/gaskins-gbu-photos-sand-hill-road-1992.pps
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/gaskins-gbu-photos-sand-hill-road-1992.ppt

Gaskins, Robert. 2002. Interview by Peter Day. “Power Mad.” BBC Radio 4, London. 10 February, 2002.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/bbc-power-mad.mp3

Gaskins, Robert. 2002. Transcript of interview by Peter Day. “Power Mad Transcript.” BBC Radio 4, London. 10 February, 2002.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/bbc-power-mad-transcript.pdf

Gaskins, Robert. 2007. “PowerPoint at 20: Back to Basics.” Communications of the ACM 50, no. 12 (December 2007): 15–17. On the web at
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/gaskins-powerpoint-at-20-cacm-vol50-no12-dec-2007-p15-p17.pdf

Gaskins, Robert. 2012. “Comments on Dilbert’s History of PowerPoint.” 2012.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/gaskins-comments-on-dilbert-history-of-powerpoint.pdf

Gaskins, Robert. 2012. “PowerPoint 1.0 for Macintosh 1987, T-Shirt 25-Year Re-Issue.” The original pre-Microsoft packaging for PowerPoint 1.0 for Macintosh, as shipped by Forethought. 20 April 2012. Archived design with 25th-anniversary dates at
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/tshirt/powerpoint-tshirt-25years-W1722-H2422.pdf

Gaskins, Robert. 2012. Sweating Bullets: Notes about Inventing PowerPoint. San Francisco and London: Vinland Books, 512 pp. ISBN (paperback) 978-0-9851424-2-1. Library of Congress Control Number 2012936438. 20 April 2012. Archived searchable full text with hyperlinks at
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/sweating-bullets/gaskins-sweating-bullets-webpdf-isbn-9780985142414.pdf

Gaskins, Robert, and Dennis Austin. 2002. Interview by Steffan Heuer. “The Revolutionaries of the Office.” Brand Eins (March 2002). Translated by Susan Grabau.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/brand-eins-the-revolutionaries-of-the-office-trans-susan-grabau.pdf

Gaskins, Robert, and Laura Gould. 1972. Snobol4: A Computer Language for the Humanities. Berkeley, CA: University of California, 1972. On the web at
www.robertgaskins.com/files/gaskins-gould-cal-snobol4-1972.pdf

Gates, Bill. 1991. “Market Share of Applications in the United States.” 19 February, 1991.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/gates-memo-on-office-1991-feb-19-comes-px00577.pdf

Gold, Rich. 2002. “Reading PowerPoint.” In Working with Words and Images: New Steps in an Old Dance, edited by Nancy Allen, 256–270. Westport, Connecticut: Ablex Publishing, 2002. (Gold’s chapter was written in 1999). Archived at
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/gold-reading-powerpoint-1999.pdf

Graphics Business Unit, Microsoft. 1989. “GBU Map and Driving Directions.” 10 November 1989.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/gbu-sand-hill-road-driving-directions.pdf

Lucky, Robert W. 1998. “The World According to PowerPoint.” IEEE Spectrum, January 1998: p. 17. Archived at
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/lucky-robert-w-the-world-according-to-powerpoint-ieee-spectrum-1998.pdf

Maples, Mike. 2004. “An Interview with Mike Maples (OH 387).” Edited by Nathan Ensmenger. Charles Babbage Institute, Center for the History of Information Processing, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. 7 May, 2004.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/ensmenger-cbi-interview-mike-maples-oh387mm-2004-may-07.pdf

Microsoft Corporation. 1987. “Microsoft Letter of Intent for Forethought.” 13 May, 1987.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/microsoft-letter-of-intent-for-forethought-1987-may-13.pdf

New York Times. 1987. “Microsoft Buys Software Unit.” 31 July, 1987.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/microsoft-buys-software-unit-powerpoint-new-york-times-1987-july-31.pdf

Rudkin, Tom. 1987. “Appearance of PowerPoint under Windows and Presentation Manager.” 5 October, 1987.
www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/documents/rudkin-windows-powerpoint-first-spec-1987-oct-05.pdf

PowerPoint 25th Anniversary:

PowerPoint at 25: a new book Sweating Bullets: Notes about Inventing PowerPoint “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.” Published by Vinland Books 2012, Hardcover 6" x 9", 512 pp., $35.00  (ISBN: 978-0-9851424-0-7) Full PDF searchable, 512 pp., Free  (ISBN: 978-0-9851424-1-4) Paperback 6" x 9", 512 pp., $17.99  (ISBN: 978-0-9851424-2-1) Ebook for Kindle (all platforms), $2.99  (ISBN: 978-0-9851424-3-8) Ebook EPUB (Google, Apple, Nook), $2.99  (ISBN: 978-0-9851424-4-5) Where to Buy Hardcover and paperback formats are available worldwide at Amazon.com, Amazon UK, Amazon France, Amazon Germany, Amazon Spain, Amazon Italy, Amazon Canada, Amazon Japan, Amazon China, Amazon India, or buy from Barnes and Noble, or buy from booksellers around the world via Abebooks, or find the book from a local independent bookstore via Indiebound, or order online with free worldwide shipping to over 100 countries. Ebook formats are available worldwide through Amazon Kindle stores (US, UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Canada, Japan), Google Play stores (US, UK, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Russia, Spain), and Apple iTunes stores (US, UK, France, Germany, Canada, Australia). Full PDF format (fully searchable and with links to references) is available worldwide for free download here, www.robertgaskins.com/powerpoint-history/sweating-bullets/gaskins-sweating-bullets-webpdf-isbn-9780985142414.pdf.

PowerPoint at 25: a new T-shirt PowerPoint 1.0 for Macintosh 1987 T-Shirt 25 Year Re-Issue The original pre-Microsoft packaging for PowerPoint 1.0 for Macintosh, as shipped by Forethought on 20 April 1987. Now re-issued as a T-shirt for the 25th anniversary of PowerPoint. T-shirts by American Apparel; choose any of 21 T-shirt colors, light or dark, in sizes and styles for men and women. High quality printing by RedBubble. Order from RedBubble for $20.98 plus shipping, available worldwide.

Want a signed copy of the book? You can get a free personalized bookplate, hand-signed by the author, to be pasted into your book. Just send an email note and request to , and include (1) the name and address to which you want the bookplate sent, and (2) if you’d like any (necessarily brief) inscription.