In Memory of Jef Raskin

Jef Raskin, a mathematician, orchestral soloist and composer, professor, bicycle racer, model airplane designer, and pioneer in the field of human-computer interaction, died peacefully at home in California on February 26th, 2005 surrounded by his family and loved ones. He had recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Raskin created the Macintosh computer as employee number 31 at Apple in the early 1980s, revolutionising computer interface design. Raskin invented "click and drag" and many other methods now taken for granted by computer users. He named the Macintosh project after his favorite variety of apple, the McIntosh, modifying the spelling for copyright purposes.

Raskin strongly believed that computers should make tasks easy for people, not the other way around. For twenty-five more years, his work focused on improving interfaces, culminating in his book, The Humane Interface (Addison-Wesley, 2000). Raskin created the Raskin Center for Humane Interfaces (RCHI), which will soon release a preview of Archy, a culmination and exemplar of his design principles. Archy redesigns the basic building blocks of computing to demonstrate an entirely new paradigm for computer use. RCHI will continue under the technical leadership of Raskin's son, Aza Raskin.

Raskin worked until the last days of his life to finish the code for Archy. He told a friend ten days before he died: 'When people get a chance to work in Archy and see how much easier it is to do their work, we'll get enormous support.' He had completed almost all of the basic work by the time his health took a turn for the worse a few days later.

Raskin viewed good design as a moral duty, holding interface designers to the same ethical standards as surgeons. Alluding to Isaac Asimov's first law of robotics, one of Raskin's mantras was that 'any system shall not harm your content or, through inaction, allow your content to come to harm'. Archy implements that principle by making it impossible to permanently lose your work. Archy also replaces mouse movements, which many text editing programs require, with much faster "Leap" keystrokes, reducing the likelihood of carpel tunnel syndrome.

Raskin originated the Macintosh project in 1979 despite strong opposition from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and led the effort for the crucial first three years. He left Apple in 1982 to found Information Appliance Inc., where he created the award-winning Canon Cat in pursuit of his vision that a computer should be an easy-to-use tool. Despite the rapid sale of twenty thousand units, Canon terminated the project due to an internal dispute. Some Canon Cat owners report continuing to use their Cats to this day.

After a decade studying cognitive psychology, Raskin established a scientific basis for the design of man-machine interfaces, bringing interface design out of the mystic realm of guruism.

In his 2000 book, "The Humane Interface", Raskin coined the term and founded the field of cognetics, the ergonomics of the mind, transforming interface design into an engineering discipline with a rigorous theoretical framework. His book, translated into more than nine languages, has gone through numerous printings and become the standard text for more than 100 computing courses around the world.

Associated Link: Raskin Center for Humane Interfaces

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