[Deimos]

Weird, my post seems to be empty, and I can't edit it.

[Deimos]

Wow, the forums are acting kinda funky.

Anyway, Jeff has died, and it's quite sad. My condolences to his family.

http://www.digibarn.com/friends/jef-raskin/index.html

[Person Man]

What???

[Rev-O]

Drag.

[Deimos]

Yeah, quite a shock. He seemed so active recently, and no hint as to being seriously ill.

[CharlesS]

[Oneota]

'Nuther link:
http://www.powerpage.org/cgi-bin/Web...y?newsID=14247

[Sharky K.]

:tear:

[Paco500]

It is sad to see anyone die, but it going to be frustrating to see another round of the headlines bearing the apparently Raskin created urban legend that he created the Macintosh. If Raskin had has his way, the Macintosh would have been the Canon Pet- no GUI, keyboard driven, a complete commercial flop and barely a footnote in computer history. Raskin started the group and created the name, true, but eventually left the project and quit Apple because it was no longer his project and had completely strayed from his design goals.

Raskin was a bright and interesting guy but he and the uninformed press that takes him at his word put way to much stock in his role with the Macintosh. We would not have the computer we love today if he had truly been the "father of the Macintosh."

[voodoo]

He did good things while on this earth. May he rest in piece in God's warm embrace.

[MacGorilla]

Wow!

[amsalpemkcus]

Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining.

-- Jeff Raskin


RIP.

[sugar_coated]

He left the world a better place. May his soul rest in peace and tranquility.

[Big Mac]

Originally posted by Paco500:
It is sad to see anyone die, but it going to be frustrating to see another round of the headlines bearing the apparently Raskin created urban legend that he created the Macintosh. If Raskin had has his way, the Macintosh would have been the Canon Pet- no GUI, keyboard driven, a complete commercial flop and barely a footnote in computer history. Raskin started the group and created the name, true, but eventually left the project and quit Apple because it was no longer his project and had completely strayed from his design goals.

Raskin was a bright and interesting guy but he and the uninformed press that takes him at his word put way to much stock in his role with the Macintosh. We would not have the computer we love today if he had truly been the "father of the Macintosh."

While everything you have written is totally true, I reserve harsh words only for evil dead men. Raskin deserves respect in death and praise for his actual contributions to computing, IMO.

[dru]

Originally posted by Deimos:
Yeah, quite a shock. He seemed so active recently, and no hint as to being seriously ill.

He's had cancer and that's what killed him according to Slashdot's coverage. Guys: keep up on your health and get checked out regularly. Be less afraid of the finger and needles and more focused on being around for what's next for your family and life in general.

Jef, imho, gets too much credit for the Macintosh. The final product did not at all bare his vision which was far closer to his Canon CAT than Apple's Lisa or Macintosh products.

Still, he played a role and made a lot of noise about UI things which is good if only because it meant maybe someone heard the kernel of truth that UI *IS* important even if Jef's 'humane interface' concepts were tired.

[Disgruntled Head of C-3PO]

Isn't this they guy nobody here liked when he was alive?

[wdlove]

My prayers go out to his family and friends. May he rest in peace. Thank you Jef.

[Millennium]

May he rest in peace. I disagree deeply with much of his later work and theories, but the fact remains that the computing industry would not be as advanced as it is today without this man's earlier designs. The world is a better place for his having been in it.

[Millennium]

Originally posted by Disgruntled Head of C-3PO:
Isn't this they guy nobody here liked when he was alive?

Hmm? There are a lot of people who have disagreements with many of the original Mac team, but the only perople who I think we can say for certain that nobody here likes are Paul Thurrott and John Dvorak. Both are still alive.

[- - e r i k - -]

While I'd rather it be Paul Thurrot or Dvorak, I did roll my eyes every time Raskin opened his mouth the last few years. He was a deluded man, but still: R.I.P.

[MacGorilla]

Originally posted by Millennium:
Hmm? There are a lot of people who have disagreements with many of the original Mac team, but the only perople who I think we can say for certain that nobody here likes are Paul Thurrott and John Dvorak. Both are still alive.

There is a certain injustice in that

[m a d r a]

what about brinsley quives?

[Gamoe]

You can say whatever you will about Raskin, but he was a man who dared to "think different", whether you agreed or disagreed with him. I read and got a lot out of his book, The Humane Interface. There are too few people in the computer world interested in real, scientifically and psychologically sound computer interfaces. It's mostly just the same old interfaces with a little twist or pretty graphics and effects (of which Apple is guilty!)

And, yes, he had different ideas about the Macintosh, but remember that Jobs also gets a tad too much credit for the original Mac these days as well. And Raskin did contribute to the Mac.

I, too, am shocked that he would die now, as active as he appeared to be (as another poster said). This is a sad occasion. He was a man with a strong passion about what too few people care about these days. I, at least, will miss him.

[Paco500]

Originally posted by Gabriel Morales:
And, yes, he had different ideas about the Macintosh, but remember that Jobs also gets a tad too much credit for the original Mac these days as well. And Raskin did contribute to the Mac.

From every account of the creation of the Mac I've read- save Raskin's, Steve Jobs was the driving force that made it happen. He didn't do the coding, the design or the engineering, but his quixotic drive to make the perfect machine is seems to be, to hear the people who did the heavy lifting tell it, the one element that made it all come together so beautifully. Without his leadership- as unpleasant as it was reported to be- I don't believe the Mac would be what it is today (or was then).

[Gamoe]

Originally posted by Paco500:
From every account of the creation of the Mac I've read- save Raskin's, Steve Jobs was the driving force that made it happen. He didn't do the coding, the design or the engineering, but his quixotic drive to make the perfect machine is seems to be, to hear the people who did the heavy lifting tell it, the one element that made it all come together so beautifully. Without his leadership- as unpleasant as it was reported to be- I don't believe the Mac would be what it is today (or was then).

All I said was that Jobs often receives too much credit. There were other people with ideas of how to do this, high standards, etc.-- People who really came up with the Mac GUI (in part thanks to Raskin's research and work) and set the basis for the Mac. That Jobs pushed this, perhaps facilitated this (though this is a hard word to use, considering how it is said that he treated people), and ruled over the project, overseeing everything is one thing.

But to say that he is the "father of the Macintosh" as some would say I think is a tad of an overstatement, though I'm sure Jobs, being the egomaniac that he was and is (though I think perhaps he has calmed down in his later years to some degree) wouldn't mind the praise.

However, this is all irrelevant to the fact that Jef Raskin was a bright and passionate man who contributed much to the human computer interface field and that his presence will be missed.

[Spliff]

Does anyone find it strange that he died of pancreatic cancer? Steve Jobs had surgery for pancreatic cancer last year. I wonder if they're were exposed to some Mac-related carcinogen in their early computer days. Maybe Macs cause cancer?