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Does anybody remember Canon Cat? It was a revolutionary 80s computer. He could have changed the information technology forever. But it didn't. Here's its story.
The Canon Cat computer in an old advertisement
It was year 1987, and the next new thing in the computer world was the graphic mouse interface. The first Apple Macintosh was only 3 years old. Commodore Amiga, Atari ST and even Microsoft were launching their brand new graphical interfaces.
And then there was Jef Raskin, the Apple employee that had lead the Macintosh team before Steve Jobs transformed it in his creature. A computer programmer but also a philosopher, with precise ideas about what a computer should be and how humans and computers should interact between each others.
No use of mouse, mainly text approach, an incredibly advanced search function. In his opinion everything has to be done within the document you are writing. The perfect "distraction free" interface ages before the term was even coined.
Fired from Apple, Jef started a project for a computer with a completely new approach, basing his work on the previously developed "SwyftCard", that was an Apple ][ expansion containing an integrated application suite.
Here's the Byte Magazine 1985 Review:
Ezra Shapiro, Apple ][e SwyftCard (Byte Magazine, September 1985)
And the reference manual of the card:
Apple ][e SwiftCard - User Manual [19MB]
Rafkin licensed that interface design to the Japanese firm Canon. The Canon Cat was born.
CPU Motorola 68000 @ 5 MHz Memory 256 KB of RAM Storage 3½-inch 256 KB floppy disk drive Display 9-inch (229 mm) black-and-white monitor Connectivity Internal 300/1200 bit/s modem Mass 20.3 pounds (9.2 kg)
A tiny (for our times) 9' black and white display, a ridiculous 256KB of floppy storing capacity (in a proprietary format), but a really pretty look, the powerful Motorola 68000 with 256K of RAM, the possibility to connect to a remote computer easily with a built-in modem.
Furthermore an incredibly easy interface suited for the computer illiterate secretaries and white collars of the 80s. A whole advanced office suite and a spelling dictionary of 90,000 words was stuffed in the 256K ROM, providing an almost instant power-on (you know what I mean, dear Apple M1!).
The power user had also the possibility to program new functions writing in Forth and in Assembly.
Here's an old article of Byte Magazine about the launch of the Canon Cat.
Ezra Shapiro, A Spiritual Heir to the Macintosh (Byte Magazine, October 1987)
But the masterpiece of Jef Rafkin was the user interface.
A complete change in perspective from the normal computers as they was intended in 1987 (and even 34 years later).
No more files or folder to handle. Just one big stream of words for each floppy disk, interrupted only with page breaks and easily searchable with the to "Leap" keys. No more differences between the word processor, the spreadsheet or the database but everything in just one clear environment.
Here's a terrific VHS guide shipped with the Canon Cat, in pure 80s style. It describes the Leap technology that is the base of the whole Cat's interface.
Leap Technology Instructional Video
And here are some more documents to read:
The Canon Cat Reference Guide [19MB]
A printout of the online help of Canon Cat
The Canon Cat Computer (1994 paper for the newsletter "Historically Brewed")
If you want to know more about his theoretical work you can read his book published in 2000:
The Humane Interface: New Directions for Designing Interactive Systems (ISBN 0-201-37937-6)
And last but not least the MAME emulator of the Canon Cat. It works, but is not very affordable.
Canon Cat Emulator (from archive.org)
Canon Cat was a complete commercial failure. Jef Raskin said that was undermined by Canon itself, scared about its other products selling. After a few thousand sold units, it was retired from the market after less than a year. Right now is practically impossible to find a Canon Cat in working conditions.
Jef Rafkin continued to work on his interface and on Leap Technology, writing books and essays until his death in 2005.
There is a project for a user interface for software systems called "Archy", that is based on his work, but it gives no sign of active development. Here's the Wikipedia page:
This was the story of Canon Cat. A computer like the computers could have been, and never were.
Regards,
fnt400
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