I was saddened to hear about the passing of Mr. Jef Raskin. I had two incidental stories I thought I'd like to pass on. The first is about his character as a designer. The second is totally random. I joined BayCHI in 2001 and would frequent the email group messages. For anyone who may be reading just this post, I'll mention my background is in graphic design. I joined BayCHI to learn and meet bay area peeps in HCI. I was looking to discover a place to fit in the bay area HCI community. Jef Raskin was, for his part, at the center.

I was actively reading The BayCHI board, AIGA Experience Design, and Interaction Design List. He was a contributer to all. Even before I knew him, I had email exchanges with Jef Raskin. I always found him to be thoughtful, determined, and a generous contributor. The most hilarious and engaging discussion I ever read was one I did not participate. This topic was started as a discussion on the merrits of Copy and Paste VS. Copy and Move. Andrei Herasimchuk and Jef Raskin got into a pitched battle--a classic interaction dilemma. Here is a highlight:

-- Jef to Andrei:

I wrote that quantitative design techniques are often of great utility,
and that to have only the skills in Andrei's list of desiderata is not
sufficient.

Andrei's admirably short reply:
>
> Yes it is.

I am getting the impression that Andrei has a tendency to think that
his strengths (presumably on the visual/conceptual side) are the only
essential elements in interface design and that where he does not have
skills (e.g. on the quantitative side) he just denigrates the utility
of those approaches.

Is there anybody else besides Andrei who thinks it is not best to have
both capabilities at hand?
-Jef

-- Andrei to Jef:

> Lastly, that a person has "worked on projects that tens of millions of
> people have used that have earned more than a billion dollars" could
> say no more than they were a major drug kingpin. That doesn't mean
> that the project was any good, just that it has had commercial
> success. The two ideas should not be confused. I, too, have "worked on
> projects that tens of millions of people have used that have earned
> more than a billion dollars" and I can also say that I have created
> such projects, but I would never use that as a reason to believe that
> the work was good.

A pointless thread in the discussion, so I'll let that one die for a
change. (I can hear everyone cheering through the DSL cable.)
-Andrei

My last story take place in December. I had taken a part time job delivering for FedEx Home Delivery during the Christmas holiday. I was on my first training day, and Rod, my instructor, took us up this barreling road overlooking the ocean In Pacifica. Arriving at the gate I noticed the name Raskin, and I looked at the package. Mr. Jef Raskin. I lit up the package with the VGA handheld scanner. An alert warning popped up saying this was a focus account. What?

Rod said this resident had filed a complaint against FedEx for a lost delivery. As a contractor, any claim against FedEx for a lost package is deducted from the contractor, or route owner's, income. Rod thought it was a bogus claim. I asked to carry the package, but he said in his Brazilian accent, "This one is not for you." Rod took care of this customer, and made sure the package was delivered properly. I followed.

I left thinking about this cool scanner I was using, about the alert warning, and the lost package. I tried to imagine what happened. Did Jef miss it, make a claim, and then find it later, as Rod had suggested? Or maybe, I imagined, someone who had heard of Jef, and knew of his notoriety as the father of the Macintosh, decided to take a souvenir. What was in that package? What would Jef Raskin buy online?

Unfortunately, Jef didn't answer the door. I didn't get to meet him.