Raskin, Jef, 1943-2005

Biography

Jef Raskin is an independent consultant on interface design, best known for having created the Macintosh computer project at Apple, the one button mouse and the click-and-drag paradigm for using it, the Apple style of computer documentation, and the Canon Cat and other interface-based products. He was Director of the Third College Computer Center at the University of California at San Diego from 1969 to 1974 and Visiting Scholar at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at Stanford University in 1973. In 1974 he formed Anabatic Aircraft, a model airplane company. From 1978 to 1982 he was employed by Apple Computer as Manager of Publications and New Product Review (1978-79), Manager of Applications Software (1979-80) and Manager of Advanced Systems (1980-82). From 1982 to 1989 he was president and CEO of Information Appliance, which created a number of products with innovative interfaces, including SwyftWare for the Apple II, and the Canon Cat for Canon Inc. of Japan. From 1989 to the present he has been an independent consultant and writer.

From the guide to the Jef Raskin Papers, 1975-1997, (Stanford University. Libraries. Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives.)