In 1989, Robert Brunner accepted the position of Director of Industrial Design at Apple Computer, where he provided design and direction for all Apple product lines, including the Newton and the PowerBook portable series, including the PowerBook 100 which moved the keyboard toward the screen, providing wrist rests up front and leaving an obvious place for a trackball; most portable computers now follow this design.

In January 1996 he became a partner in the San Francisco office of Pentagram and has designed products for PC-maker Dell and is now “moving deeper into Apple enemy territory as well: The graphics and images in Microsoft’s new operating system called Vista (formerly codenamed Longhorn) will be designed by the Apple vet,” BusinessWeek reports

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