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Jef Raskin, a computer technology pioneer who started the team that created the Macintosh computer, died Saturday at his home in Pacifica, Calif., at age 61. The cause was pancreatic cancer, said his wife, Linda Blum.
Mr. Raskin, who named the Macintosh after his favorite apple but altered the spelling for copyright reasons, played a significant role in transforming computers into friendlier machines, helping to catapult them into the commercial sphere. As the 31st employee at Apple Computer, Mr. Raskin advocated forcefully for the company to develop a computer that was easy for people to use, and he headed the Macintosh project starting in 1979.
"At that time, computers were for nerds," said Bill Atkinson, a software designer who Mr. Raskin recruited to work at Apple in 1978. "You had to be some kind of geek to even want to use a computer. He wanted to make them more usable and friendly to people who weren't geeks."
Mr. Raskin left Apple in 1982 after his relationship with Steve Jobs, the company's co-founder, soured. But he is credited with providing the vision for the Macintosh, the highly accessible and affordable computer that hit stores in 1984.
"He really spent his life urging a degree of simplicity where computers would be not only easy to use but delightful," said Steven Levy, a technology writer and the author of "Insanely Great," a history of the Macintosh computer.
By almost any measure, Mr. Raskin was a Renaissance man. He was an accomplished musician, composer, conductor and painter, as well as a mathematician, book author and model airplane designer.
Born in New York City, Mr. Raskin studied mathematics and philosophy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, graduating in 1965. He earned a master's degree in computer science at Pennsylvania State University in 1967. His first computer program, a music program, was part of his master's thesis.
Mr. Raskin entered a graduate music program at the University of California at San Diego, but stopped to teach art, photography and computer science there, working as an assistant professor from 1970 until 1974.
Mr. Raskin, who named the Macintosh after his favorite apple but altered the spelling for copyright reasons, played a significant role in transforming computers into friendlier machines, helping to catapult them into the commercial sphere. As the 31st employee at Apple Computer, Mr. Raskin advocated forcefully for the company to develop a computer that was easy for people to use, and he headed the Macintosh project starting in 1979.
"At that time, computers were for nerds," said Bill Atkinson, a software designer who Mr. Raskin recruited to work at Apple in 1978. "You had to be some kind of geek to even want to use a computer. He wanted to make them more usable and friendly to people who weren't geeks."
Mr. Raskin left Apple in 1982 after his relationship with Steve Jobs, the company's co-founder, soured. But he is credited with providing the vision for the Macintosh, the highly accessible and affordable computer that hit stores in 1984.
"He really spent his life urging a degree of simplicity where computers would be not only easy to use but delightful," said Steven Levy, a technology writer and the author of "Insanely Great," a history of the Macintosh computer.
By almost any measure, Mr. Raskin was a Renaissance man. He was an accomplished musician, composer, conductor and painter, as well as a mathematician, book author and model airplane designer.
Born in New York City, Mr. Raskin studied mathematics and philosophy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, graduating in 1965. He earned a master's degree in computer science at Pennsylvania State University in 1967. His first computer program, a music program, was part of his master's thesis.
Mr. Raskin entered a graduate music program at the University of California at San Diego, but stopped to teach art, photography and computer science there, working as an assistant professor from 1970 until 1974.
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