Bill Moggridge, noted consumer electronics designer, died on September 8th, 2012 of cancer. He was 69.
Wizards like Bill Moggridge stayed up late to build our future. As the co-founder of vaunted design firm IDEO, Moggridge designed some of the primary tools of the digital age including the first real laptop computer, the GRiD Compass.
More recently, he was the Cooper-Hewitt Design Museum’s fourth director where he completed a massive capital improvement of the facility.
Moggridge was born in the UK in 1943 where he studied design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. He moved to Palo Alto where he built design company ID Two. There he worked with GRiD Systems to build the first computer with a keyboard that folded over to protect the screen. Called the GriD Compass 1100, it was the world’s first laptop computer.
He went on to co-found IDEO, one of the most-respected design firms in Silicon Valley. IDEO was the go-to hardware designer for Apple, Palm, and Microsoft. If it beeps, buzzes, or lights up, Moggridge’s influence is probably somewhere close by. His work and influence is nearly unmatched in modern hardware design and we are poorer for this loss.
He is survived by his wife Karin, and sons, Alex and Erik.