Jef Raskin, creator of the Macintosh, died yesterday at 61. He headed the project from 1978 up to 1982, when he was forced out of Apple. Since then, he worked on several different products to introduce ‘humane computing’, but is still best known for his contributions to the Macintosh. Read his story here.
Jef Raskin (1944-2005)
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
Great contribution to technology, even if much of his ideas didn’t make it into the final Macintosh. The Humane Interface could still be interesting.
Where’s what Jef had to say about the 1-button Mac mouse
“As for the one-button mouse, I’d observed at Xerox Parc which had a 3-button mouse, that people were very confused as to its use and when I was designing the software for the Macintosh, in designing the interface, I figured that if there was only one button, there would never be any question on what you have to press the number of ways of using a one-button mouse. I think this was probably a mistake, in fact there is an appendix in my book which discusses why I think this was a mistake and what I think I should have done. One of the reasons I made the mistake is that there is a certain school of industrial design dating back to the Bauhaus which says that designs have to be simple, uncluttered, and clean. In particular, don’t put writing on it except for brand names or logos. If we had had a multiple-button mouse with two keys, labeled something like “select” and “activate,” it would have been much easier to use, but the idea of putting writing on keys did not occur to anybody, including me. So if I was designing one today, it would have two buttons and they would be labeled. The labeling also the other good effect of forcing software designers to use them as labels otherwise it’s clear that they are being misused.”
From http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~frank/BerkeleyGroks_Raskin.htm
Interesting quote. Personally, an OS should be fully functional with a single button mouse (just as it should be fully functional if there is no mouse). People should use which ever mouse makes sense to them.
May he Rest In Peace
I e.-mailed him recently, asking some questions about THE, The Humane Environment. He sent as extensive e.-mail as a reply, going into detail about his theories.
Hopefully, his pioneering spirit will live on and people will continue to dare to think beyond the boundaries ofthe desktop metaphor.
OS Opinion just reposed an old interview they conducted with Jef:
http://osopinion.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&…
Interesting read.
is that the Mac UI was designed around multiple button mice from the very beginning. No, I’m not talking about OS support for multi-button mice. I’m talking about the fact that the Mac UI has never been functional with one button. Never. From the very first System 1 in 1984, the Mac UI required at least 2 buttons, namely one for “Select” and one for “Activate”. Only instead of actually putting these on two separate buttons and sticking labels on them, they put both on the same and invented a second button called double-click. This is what Raskin was talking about. The double-click was invented so that they could get away with one button and didn’t need text labels. This made the mouse prettier but a bit harder to use. Double-clicking requires a certain amount of manual dexterity, while putting text labels on the buttons only requires basic literacy.
This was Apple’s mistake. Microsoft’s mistake is even dumber. PC mice all had 2 buttons from the very beginning. Instead of taking advantage of them from the very start and correcting Apple’s mistake, they mindlessly copied Apple’s way of using one button for Select, a double-click “button” for Activate, and totally ignored the second button. Fortunately they later standardized the second button on the context menu, which is quite useful.
Rest in peace.
Sobering news, RIP Jef, you’ve contributed a lot to the world 😉
1943-2005: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jef_Raskin
It’s fixed now
RIP
A while back I did a series here called “Building the next generation” (I’ll finish it sometime, honest…)
In the first part I mentioned the Mac but put the “ease of use” down to Steve Jobs, I got an email from Mr Raskin asking me for a correction. He wasn’t egotistical or arrogant about it – he just wanted to set the record straight.
I corrected the mistake but the irony was I’d mentioned him because I specifically wanted to mention his role in the beginnngs of the Mac, I just happened to f**k it up. He could see the irony when I mentioned it though.
I went off and read more about usability, he was one of the pioneers – working on usability in the 60’s, a decade before personal computers were even invented!
RIP
I think he over analyzed the mouse button issue, but, he was right(a debate not worth debating). The mac mini, is something of a testament to him. A console killer, in short. Something that he worked on when he left Apple.
“while he worked at apple, rather”
and furthermore, RSI’s and Carpal Tunnel was “not an illness” back then. One Button mice are bad. Simple, yes, good? no.
I just can’t get into the arguement about mice.
why didn’t apple put anything on their site?
That’s what I want to know too. I know he and Jobs didn’t get along, but sheesh.
RIP Jef Raskin
Rest in peace.
http://www.apple.com/thinkdifferent/
Here’s to the crazy ones.
The misfits.
The rebels.
The troublemakers.
The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently.
They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them,
disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They invent. They imagine. They heal.
They explore. They create. They inspire.
They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
We make tools for these kinds of people.
While some see them as the crazy ones,
we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world, are the ones who do.
^^
..
<
/
(best approximation I can do for a Sad Mac using ANSI)
Jef was great; a continual source of wisdom and humility.
I would only wish that someday some little piece of what Jef offered the world once again is embraced by Apple.
always sad to hear someone has passed away. Thoughts and prayers out to his family.
I sometimes wonder what the world lost when Hendrix died before his time.
I wonder what the world lost today?
You will be remembered ! 🙂
http://joyoftech.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/656.html
Rest in Peace, may your spirit prevails with us.
IF there is the Big Place in the Sky, I hope they let him work on version 2.0, the interface is due for a much needed overhaul.
🙁 Jef, Rest in Peace !
One quote from a mail from jef:
I wrote:”I need more mouseclicks in X to do the same stuff i do in 9.”
He replied: “OS-X is a step sideways.” … Thanks, Jef.
so we have started to lose computer history people, what a shame
was he ever asked to comment on useing haystack as a “desktop”?
ie, forgo the app centerd system of today for a document centerd or maybe even a true task centerd ui?
but then it would mean trowing away decades of thinking for both users and programmers.
it would be like turning firefox into a persons ui. with maybe some basic task menus somewhere, open, create, remove/delete.
hmm, i wonder if that would ever make sense to people…
tnx for everythink.
Have a nice trip.
i think its just disguisting that apple didn’t put someone on their site.
This article points out that, while Jef deserves some credit, he might not be properly callde the absolute “father” of Macintosh (at least the one we know today and have know for 20 years):
http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=The_Fa…
He probably still deserves credit for some of his innovative ideas of course.
Actually while everyone thinks apple didn’t put something on their website, I remember their frontpage with the three ipods on it, had a black background yesterday …
I remember their frontpage with the three ipods on it, had a black background yesterday …
Yea, took notice…
“i think its just disguisting that apple didn’t put someone on their site.”
Please do elaborate… should apple put a notice every time an ex-employee passes away?
I am sorry this person died, but that doesn’t change the fact that his association with apple ended over 2 decades ago. Come on…
I remember their frontpage with the three ipods on it, had a black background yesterday …
It’s always been black.
It’s always been black.
Indeed? Never seen it black cept for yesterday. Not that I go there every day though. It’s white today, btw.
Steve Wozniak “the technician”.
Steve Jobs “the visionare”.
Jef Raskin “the scientist”.
Three very different ways parts of the Apple’s history.
And the computer science’s history, too.
Jef Raskin was and IS one like no one!
Rest In Peace. Alive in our heart!
PS I think its just disguisting that Apple didn’t put something about him on the home site, too. And you know I’m a strong Apple defender: this time there are no defences! Sorry Steve, but this is a very BIG mistake!
Yes, however, he was an important figure within Apple and helped shape the future of the company. If he had not been there Apple may have been a totally different company.
..That is if he actually did as much as they say he did.
But your right, a lot of people were involved in many important things and taking note of all of those people would make apple put an “RIP xxxxxx” every day on their site. I mean It would be kinda unfair to mention him I guess.. unless if he had a huge association with em and was vastly important.
eh i dunno. exclude me out of my last comment.
however, he was an important figure within Apple and helped shape the future of the company. If he had not been there Apple may have been a totally different company.
I think this is way overstating Jef Raskin’s contribution to both Apple and the Mac. He started a project code-named “Macintosh”. Some of the embryonic concepts are similar to what Mac became. But the above statement way overstates his overall contribution to Apple and the Mac.
His contributions will not be soon forgotten. Thanks for everything Jeff, and may you rest in peace.
the man was a genius, and one of the real pioneers in usability, but he was alwas frustrated with how little there was to work with, and what a bad job every did of using it. ive read about some of his more recent work, talk about thinking outside the box. every now and then someone comes along who just doesnt accept the wildly regarded fundamental rules of his time. the woz was definately one of those people, so was raskin.