Sunday, June 05, 2005
Techtalker _Mac Daddy
"Employee Number 31" was how he was referred to. And over the years,the ``Father of the Mac'' or ``Mac Daddy" as he was widely known remained committed to his lifetime goal of making computers simpler for the users.
Jef Raskin, widely regarded as the man behind the Macintosh, died of pancreatic cancer last week. As the cyber world debated over his legacy, some of which was disputed, none denies the enormous impact that Raskin had over the computer world.
Ironically, Jef left Apple before the Mac was launched, and that is why few identify him with the revolutionary creation. He was uncharitable towards Apple chief Steve Jobs, and some doubt his claim to be the father of the Mac.
During one such bout of claims, Jef wrote ``I do not claim to have invented the Macintosh. As I have written many times, it was the work of many people. All sources agree that I created the project, and it is only in the sense that Edison is the inventor of the light bulb and the phonograph, though he built neither but set others who worked with him on the right path, that I am the inventor of the
Mac.''
No wonder, Andy Ihnatko of Macworld described him as ``the guy who's become famous as the guy who isn't famous for having created the Mac'' Prior to Jef, computer interfaces were large text based, and you could not work on a computer unless you knew the commands. Jef convinced the world, particularly in Apple that computers should be both easy and elegant. He is credited with bringing graphical interfaces to computers, apart from a host of other innovations. In 2000, he wrote the book ``The Human Interface'', which is a standard text for those trying to demystify computers. During his last years, he was working on a new project called Archy, which according to his website "doesn't work like anything else on this or nearby planets" .
His son, Aza Raskin, will continue to develop the project, a preview version of which is due out later this year, his family said in the statement.Details about Jef are available at his website www.jefraskin.com, and Archy is described in greater detail at www.raskingcenter.org.
Macworld forums had an interesting quote following his death,``Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan". But a rare compliment came from the search engine, Google, which modified its home page to include a link to Jef Raskin immediately after his death.
Jef Raskin, widely regarded as the man behind the Macintosh, died of pancreatic cancer last week. As the cyber world debated over his legacy, some of which was disputed, none denies the enormous impact that Raskin had over the computer world.
Ironically, Jef left Apple before the Mac was launched, and that is why few identify him with the revolutionary creation. He was uncharitable towards Apple chief Steve Jobs, and some doubt his claim to be the father of the Mac.
During one such bout of claims, Jef wrote ``I do not claim to have invented the Macintosh. As I have written many times, it was the work of many people. All sources agree that I created the project, and it is only in the sense that Edison is the inventor of the light bulb and the phonograph, though he built neither but set others who worked with him on the right path, that I am the inventor of the
Mac.''
No wonder, Andy Ihnatko of Macworld described him as ``the guy who's become famous as the guy who isn't famous for having created the Mac'' Prior to Jef, computer interfaces were large text based, and you could not work on a computer unless you knew the commands. Jef convinced the world, particularly in Apple that computers should be both easy and elegant. He is credited with bringing graphical interfaces to computers, apart from a host of other innovations. In 2000, he wrote the book ``The Human Interface'', which is a standard text for those trying to demystify computers. During his last years, he was working on a new project called Archy, which according to his website "doesn't work like anything else on this or nearby planets" .
His son, Aza Raskin, will continue to develop the project, a preview version of which is due out later this year, his family said in the statement.Details about Jef are available at his website www.jefraskin.com, and Archy is described in greater detail at www.raskingcenter.org.
Macworld forums had an interesting quote following his death,``Success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan". But a rare compliment came from the search engine, Google, which modified its home page to include a link to Jef Raskin immediately after his death.
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