If you’re attending next week’s Macworld Expo in San Francisco, you’ll have a chance to meet Jef Raskin, who started the Mac project at Apple in 1979. Raskin will be in Booth #1748, hanging out with the folks at Matias Corporation, creators of the Half Keyboard.
The former head of publications and quality assurance at Apple, Raskin had proposed the project to Mike Markkula in 1979. Until 1981, when current CEO Steve Jobs took over hardware and software development, Raskin led a small group of developers — Burrell Smith, Brian Howard, and Bud Tribble.
“The design of the computer was guided in part by Raskin’s interests and experience as a professor at UCSD, researcher at Xerox PARC, and technical documentations manager; it was also designed to avoid problems in the Apple II created by that machine’s open architecture,” according to the “Making of the Macintosh” Web site. “As they worked, the specifications and other essays documenting the group’s work were gathered by Raskin into a volume he later dubbed The Book of Macintosh.”
Raskin also thought of a half keyboard a few years ago, according to Edgar Matias, inventor of the Half Keyboard.
“It was a real honor and privilege working with Jef on this product, especially considering the circumstances under which we met,” Matias said. “Jef had thought of the Half Keyboard idea himself a few years ago and mentioned it to his friend Bill Buxton. Coincidentally, Bill was my professor at the University of Toronto, and we had just finished a big research project evaluating the Half Keyboard design. Bill introduced us and suggested we work together.”
For more info about Raskin, check out his personal Web site. The 2001 Macworld Conference & Expo will be held Jan. 9-12 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, CA. Details are at the Macworld Conference & Expo Web site.
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