William Depew

William Depew
Depew, William
Occupation	Founder, Software Developer

Career

Early Life and Interests

William Depew grew up in Burbank, California, and graduated from John Burroughs High School in 1972, a few years before his future business partners. He briefly attended UCLA, though his interests quickly turned to computers and electronics. Known for his extraordinary ability to learn and adapt, Depew became a self-taught programmer at a time when few had access to personal computing.

By the mid-1970s, he was writing and sharing Apple II programs at a time when the platform was still largely the domain of hobbyists. His technical skill and drive led him to collaborate with Gary Koffler and William V. R. Smith— who, by coincidence, were also Burroughs alumni—to start a software company focused on the Apple II.

Co-Founding Softape

In late 1977, Depew joined Smith and Koffler to co-found a company originally named Softech (renamed Softape shortly afterward). Depew served as chief developer, writing the company’s earliest and most influential Apple II programs. His contributions helped make Softape one of the first and most prolific software publishers for the platform in the late 1970's: a time when Apple software was distributed primarily via cassette tape.

Among Depew’s notable contributions was Apple 21, a popular blackjack game that was among the company’s first stand-alone titles. He also co-developed Magic Window with Gary Shannon, an innovative word processor released in 1980 that became one of Softape’s hallmark products. Unique for its time, Magic Window reversed the typical scrolling behavior: the screen’s text moved while the cursor remained stationary, mimicking the experience of a typewriter. The program was widely praised and named the #1 word processor of 1981 by readers of Softalk magazine.

Depew was also deeply involved in technical innovation— designing duplicating hardware, early productivity software, educational programs, and supporting experimental titles using speech synthesis and voice recognition, such as Tic-Tac-Talker.

Artsci and Later Work

Following a falling out among the founders, Depew and Smith reorganized Softape under the new name ArtSci, Inc., continuing to produce software for the Apple II and, later, the Macintosh.

William Depew passed away on August 2, 2011, in Burbank, California.

List of major works

External links