The Mac was supposed to be a focused writing machine.
Hi,
Have you ever imagined that computers could, surely, be better than they are today? That they shouldn’t make things so difficult, shouldn’t ask so many questions, shouldn’t make you memorize esoteric commands just to do simple tasks?
So did Jef Raskin. As the first person Apple hired to write documentation, he wanted to build a computer—the first Mac—that removed everything that tripped people up. Tap a key and start typing—no waiting for the computer to boot or for you to come up with a name for the file.
Spoiler: It failed. Steve Jobs came back, turned the Mac into his “bicycle for the mind.” Raskin built his device, but it never sold that well.
But the ideas, they were gold. There are still things he envisioned that today’s software would do well to learn from.
So here’s a look at the ideas behind the original Macintosh, as envisioned by Jef Raskin—and how you can build more humane software, imagine a computing interface that actually makes you more productive.
~ Matt + the Reproof team
PS: Plus, since it’s Friday, here’s another thing we’ve published recently about journaling for productivity.