Humanizing Technology: Intel's Plans and the Death of an Innovator

March 3, 2005

Two news items from the past few days resonated for me. One has to do with the death of Jef Raskin, one of the originators of the Macintosh interface. The other item has to do with an announcement today from Intel about its plans for humanizing technology.

Jef Raskin was on the team that developed the original Mac back in the 80s. He was one of the people behind the idea of an easy-to-use personal computer. Unfortunately, he was elbowed out of the project by a certain ambitious top executive at Apple.

For a great�story about Raskin, please go to the NPR Web site and listen to this report, which I heard on the news show All Things Considered last night:

Mac Pioneer Jef Raskin Made Computers Friendlier

You can read Intel's announcement at:

Intel Sees More Natural, Humanized Computing in the Coming Decade; New Tasks Drive Creation of Platforms with Enhanced Performance and Capabilities

I think computing has a long, long way to go before it becomes easy for people to use -- and it will only live up to a fraction of its potential until then. Justin Rattner, Intel senior fellow and director of the company's Corporate Technology Group, says that people want to be able to interact with computers the way they interact with other humans. This requires a very demanding and�different kind of design process for those creating computer technology.

Here's a quote from Rattner in Intel's release today:

"Imagine a phone that can translate languages in real time so you can talk to people in other countries more easily, or finding a photo of your children playing with a pet from among the thousands of photos you have stored in multiple computers in your house. These tasks might seem simple, but they require levels of performance, sophistication and intelligence in both hardware and software that don't exist today. To deliver these capabilities in products that are easy to use and attractive to many people requires that we, as an industry, rethink our approach to platform development."

AB -- 3/3/05

Related Tags: Intel, intel, people, technology, raskin, Raskin