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Top 10 Most Important Tech People of the Decade
KarmaWhore writes "For it's 10th anniversary Network Computing has put together what they consider to be the top ten people of the decade. Linus is number three. Gates is number two. " I dunno - lists like this are certainly useless - but it's always a fun debate.
Yes, but another attempt to copy the Mac OS is hardly that innovative. Besides, it's just one more Windows version.
How about Windows NT? Granted, not the most stable, secure products ever made, but come on, almost everyone (including half the Slashdot population) uses them! Granted, he did not write every single line of code, but he did lead the company that did. Without his leadership, who knows what would have happened.
The easy response would be: "Uh, innovation?" But the less-flippant response is that there were plenty of companies (mine included) who were doing Wide Area Networking long before NT was viable. My guess, if Gates has decided to cash in at the start of the 90s, is that Ballmer would have done many of the same things. Even if he had failed where Gates had success, what makes you think that all those companies M$ crushed along the way wouldn't have provided the needed technology?
Without Windows 95, where would we be? 90 % of us would be out of a job. Computers would not have hit it off 'really big,' because they would still be too hard to use for the idiots who sit at home (yes, those same people who call tech support)
I guess they would have had to buy Macs or something else easy. Or they could have learned to use Win 3.1. In my experience, those who couldn't figure out Win 3.1 never bothered to learn Win95 either.
If BillG left Microsoft 10 years ago, would any of this come around?
Probably. Maybe not at the same speed, or with the same number of casualties along the side of the road, but probably the other tens of thousands of M$ employees would have done something without Gates around.
Or would you be running DOS or Windows 3.1? ( which was also innovative)
Actually, both were derivative, not innovate, but yes, business could and did run on those.
Would 99% of offices have a computer in them?
Absolutely.
Or, would you be flipping burgers at BurgerKing? (which runs NT, last time I checked)
I wasn't flipping burgers before Gates came along, nor was I doing so before those 90's 'innovations' you cite. So why would I be flipping burgers now had Gates retired in 1990?
Look, M$ as a company has done tremendous things and, by virtue of most folks being too lazy to care, or by virtue of their predatory ways, most of us use M$ software today. But what innovative things has Gates done in the 90s? Another respondant suggested the turnaround of M$ to embrace the Net. That was impressive, but hardly innovative. It was imitative in the extreme.
I mean, governments have a temendous influence on our lives. That influence doesn't mean they are innovative, however.
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Yes Bill did something....he didn't really make anything personally but he did put market an OS that put a PC in over 75% of the homes in America. Like it or not technology NEEDS marketing and deployment to live.
/. reader between 18 and 25 to prove to me that they didn't get their start on PC's using one of Bill's OS's. I kinda doubt at age 19 many of the readers gunning on Bill now were compiling and hand bootstraping thier linux boxes.
And I challange any
And to futher torpedo your argument...Linus did do something......he ripped off Andrew Tannebaum.
No, Jamie Zawinski did enough work that I'd say he'd be the best Netscape candidate there. Marc was just a lawyer who got VC.
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Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
This would be funnier if Gore actually said that. He didn't. What he did say was an exaggeration but evidently not enough of one that his opponents could refrain from exaggerating his exaggeration. And their spin seems to have worked really well -- every gullible sucker in the US (of which there are evidently tens of millions) thinks that AL Gore said that he invented the internet.
Before you start flaming, remember: Satan comes before God, because without Satan, who would appreciate God?
Any technology which is distinguishable from magic is not sufficiently advanced.
Turing contributed something. Bill bought a copy of basic and had Paul Allen work on it.
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Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
True. This is obviously the view of the modern media.
...", where Network Computing titles it, "The 10 Most Important People of the Decade", and then goes on to refer within the body of the article as, "Most Influential People of the Decade"
After a second look, I notice Hemos titled it "Top 10 Most Important Tech People
3 different titles, probably better titled, "Top Ten People Whom Have Influenced Tech". We'd still have our bones to pick over them, but at least it's not as wild as assuming Steve Jobs still keeps a propeller beanie on his hatrack.
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On the other hand, where would the GNU project be without a stable, popular kernel? (It's only recently that the Hurd has become usable.) Linux has spread the GNU tools more widely than GNU itself has, now that the OS is penetrating deeper into business and personal environments -- the core of GNU proper has always been academia, which is an important but smaller field.
Bottom line, it's great for users to have a compiler like GCC and a kernel like Linux. There is no conflict, and no need for there to be one.
heehee just kidding... although you have to admit that for a while "Free Kevin" was pretty much a rallying cry around these parts...
Free music from Jack Merlot.
October 2, 2000 - Network Copmuting Corporate Headquarters - Manhasset NY. - After reviewing numerous letters, Network Computing has reconsidered the companies Top Ten individuals in the technology sector and issues this revised list. We apologize to our shareholders (and to the FTC, SEC et al) for the erroneous posting of the previous list and its inclusion of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, we had no idea that mentioning thier names here would lead to such a rapid plunge in the value of our stock. Additionally, in order to place a proper perspective on the technology sector, we will be forth coming with out new 'Meglamaniac Top Ten' as soon as the results are tabulated. The Meglamaniac Top Ten will be sure to include Mr. Gates, Mr. Jobs, Mr. Perot, Mr.Gerstner and Mr. Ellison. There's something about the computing industry that lends itself to achievements by the following individuals... 1. Tux
/. $authors)
2. Dilbert
3. Ren & Stimpy (tie)
4. Tick
5. Kenny
6. Kyle
7. Cartman
8. Stan
9. Chef
10. Brian Boitano
Disclaimer: Network computing is in no way responsible for the results, outcome or bias displayed in the Top Ten list and assumes no liability for it. Please don't email us with your questions or comments as this is out final list. This list is in no way an attempt to placate the script kiddie who has sent us 3 million emails since 10:00 AM EST voting for Dogbert.
Note to self: IF s/N ratio>=facts(old news +
Prospecting Stinks. Stop Wasting Time on Cold Calling.
Ok Jim Clark's claim to fame is he was able to turn 2 different multibillion dollar companies into shit in a very short span of time.
Larry Ellison - made Oracle the #1 market share DB and kept it at exactly the same proportion over a ten year period somehow making himself a billionaire even while turning his support and service organizations into complete shit.
LVG - what can you say ex RJR ex Nabisco ex McKinsy antitechnocrat who rode the greatest ecnomic bubble ever to a 'salvaging miracle' at Big Blue. How hard could it be to take a basically sound company apply textbook mgt consulting techniques to it while the rest of the tech world shot up into the stratosphere in value.
Steve Jobs - the shrinking violet permanent temp CEO watched his company go efectively nowhere in ten years. At least it didn't go toes up! (famous quote - 'all you need to make a fortune in this business is a garage and 5 million dollars').
Rick Boucher - oh yeah Congress is at the vangard of thought leadership and getting shit done at warp speed. In 10 years they'll still be debating about the shape of the bargaining table.
This list is basically a bunch of people who were either too shy to really fuck things up or just arrogant enough to fuck them up anyhow. Either way they are experts at being where the shit aint and managing to blame it all on someone else.
Woz I totally agree with. He should be on the list. I also agree with the idea that Gates should be somewhere near the top. We're talking "most influential to technology" not "what's best for technology". There are, however, thousands of other technophiles creating software, chips, and hacks that deserve to be on this list. When you summarize it down to 10, you lose the work of those people.
- I don't care if they globalize against free speech. All my best free thoughts are done in my head.
But he didn't do any of that stuff... he was just the boss. That's like saying the CEO of 3M is a great contributer to chemical engineering. Gates is merely a competent business man...
"Free your mind and your ass will follow"
I'm anxious to see an interface that can rival the Windows interface.
You've never used a Mac, have you?
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The nice people at NC are just posting things people will read.
They are pretty much right about the people on the list, though of course they're too mainstream to pick up any unsung heroes that have more to do with the way the web turned out, for example.
They also make some fairly silly statements, like "AppleTalk is still the easiest method of file and print sharing for casual computer users" or "Attribute all this, if you will, to Jobs' vision of the Macintosh: It's for people who `Think Different.'" I know, I know, I'm picking on the Steve Jobs part of the article. But let's face it, NetBEUI is just as easy as apple's networking, possibly easier since you can use a standard folder/file context rather than the chooser or network browser. And the Apple People may want to think different, but apple's sugar-sweet (sugar-water?) packaging can't be rationally seen as anything but an encouragement to think the same.
I personally would have liked to see people on this list that I hadn't ever heard of before (Not just people whose names I'd forgotten, and people whose names I can't escape.) Oh, and here, I just found another inaccuracy: "In his early days at Sun Microsystems, Khosla participated in the creation of the first and, today, the most successful RISC-based platform, proving that there's a world beyond the Wintel phenomenon." BZZZZZT. Thank you for playing. IBM put together the first RISC architecture (though possibly the least successful:) The ROMP architecture, which was found in the IBM RT-PC. Thank you, Network Computing, for consistently getting the facts wrong.
They seem to have Berners-Lee's microbio written out fairly well, one hopes out of a sense of reverence. And of course, as one would expect, they are ritualistically (perhaps even fetishistically) correct on the BillyG front, perhaps more out of fear of lawsuit than for any other reason. But even in the large print at the top of Linus' data they hose things up; Linus created a kernel. He no more created an operating system than I created a waste treatment plant in the bathroom this morning. This is not to denigrate the man or his achievements, which are nonetheless very important to the point we have reached today. But please, let's try for some precision.
All in all, another mediocre article from a mediocre publication. Personally, I'd like to see a "top ten slashdotters" article. Can you imagine the height of the flames?
I can only dream.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Strange to see a slashdot sig adapted from a Jurassic Park quote:
"Your Scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should."
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Because of Saddam's aggressiveness, the Gulf War came about, during which a lot of American technology (Patriot missles, A10 Warthog, etc) was tried in battle for the first time and found to work really well.
Huh? "Patriot missile" and "work really well" are two phrases I never thought I'd see in a sentence together.
Some more information on the patriot.
IIRC, the A10 was around long before the Gulf War, and in fact was in the middle of being phased out before the war started (and the Pentagon realized that they didn't have anything that could replace it.)
I read the internet for the articles.
And I'll bet that he later refuted that statement by claiming he was tired when he said it.
/HUMOR
Anyway, I definitely agree with Bill Gates' position on that list. Like the article said, whether you love him or hate him, there's no doubt he helped shape the computer industry into what it is today. (For those of you who doubt this is a good thing, we're HERE, aren't we?) Windows isn't the best OS on the planet for a lot of things, but it's inspired competition - and rigorous competition helps everyone. (I'm anxious to see an interface that can rival the Windows interface. It may not be the best OS there is, but there isn't an interface that comes close to the ease that Windows provides. That's the problem with X.)
If we had an interface that was as good as the Windows UI (and provided the same continuity! Important!), with the power and stability of Linux - the sky's the limit.
I was disappointed I didn't see MY name on the list, but....
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Gates did two things in the 90's:
1) Going into the mid 90's, Microsoft thought they had it made... they owned the desktop after all. Apple was dying, no other competition was on the horizon. Meanwhile, this little thing called "The Internet" and the little app that was available on it called "The World Wide Web" appeared. People in the trenches seized on the new idea as the Next Big Thing. But, up on the bridge of the SS. Microsoft, it was business as usual... they were passing out MSN floppies and waiting for their captured audience to flock to them. A *lot* of people (myself included) rubbed their hands gleefully waiting for Microsoft to founder on the rocks.
At almost the last second, before Microsoft's monopoly was rendered moot by Internet and network computing, Gates & co. realized that they were about to get clobbered. Gates managed in an incredibly short amount to time to turn his behemoth of a company around and take advantage of the Internet. All products became "Internet enabled" (at least t the point that they could add a bullet list to the "new features section"). They also rammed a behemoth-to-be called Netscape and sank them handily. Considering how many other major companies in the IT sector have perished or have been greatly diminished by previous paradigm shifts (i.e. DEC in the age of the PC), Gate's feat was pretty impressive.
2) Another thing that Microsoft did during the 90's is make major inroads into the server market. Going into the 90's, Novell, DEC, IBM, and various UNIXen owned the server markets. Microsoft has managed to carve out a fairly handy piece of the server sector pie, a very competitive sector compared to its familiar desktop zone where it has had Apple on the ropes for a while. The very fact that many people feel they have to become MSCE's pretty much makes Gates a shoe-in for the top ten list put together by an IT magazine.
Although Bill Gates is more of a name of the 80's and could have been left off on those grounds. (Along with Larry Ellison and Steve Jobs and Vinod Khosla)
Tim probably is an important name at least as far as consumer tech goes. Linus I'm not so sure about. An equivilent of Linux probably would have happened without him. (GNU Hurd perhaps)
Sanford ('Spamford') Wallace and Cyber Promotions.... they certainly affected the course of the Internet during the late 90's, regardless of how low and turd-like you think he might be.
I think I read somewhere he's planning a comeback....
Everyone will start to cheer when you put on your sailin' shoes.
It's just an expression.
Soylent Green is people!
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
"Linus is a personable Scandinavian"? Perhaps you would find it educational to read through the kernel development mailing list archives. ;-)
Personally, I suspect Stallman's facial hair is what kept him off the list. I would think Stallman looks a bit too much like Fidel Castro for the delicate sensibilities of mild-mannered media.
Where's Al Gore?
That's what I love about them high-school girls. I get older, they stay the same age... yes they do.
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-- jimmycarter
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/13640.html
~ppppppppö
In the 90s, Microsoft just played catch up
Very strange. Microsoft was big in the 1980s but became *huge* in the 1990s. Windows pre-3.0 was an obscure relic. MS-DOS was crusty, and kept people from becoming common household items. Windows 3.0 took off like a shot, followed quickly by 3.1. It turned into the standard operating system. Sure, Microsoft missed the rise of the web, but everyone running Navigator was running it on Windows anyway. In a nutshell, Windows became the ubiquitous operating system. Word became the standard word processor. Excel became the standard spreadsheet. Internet Explorer became the standard browser. Visual Basic became the standard enterprise application development tool. Visual C++ became the dominant commercial C/C++ compiler. You can belittle this any way you want, but that's where we are today.
I'm sure a lot of people would have taken it personally, regardless of how Hemos phrased it. What I fail to understand is why these same people continue to read slashdot if they find it so inherently offensive.
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Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
Okay, I'm going to play devil's advocate...
Because of Saddam's aggressiveness, the Gulf War came about, during which a lot of American technology (Patriot missles, A10 Warthog, etc) was tried in battle for the first time and found to work really well.
Does that get him on the list? No, not really, but Spudley's got a valid point. World leaders and other non-technical but prominent people can have a massive effect on technology. To wit, would we have had radar or jet engines or the Bomb as soon as we did were it not for Hitler? For that matter, the invention of the electronic digital computer was closely entwined with the attempt to break Nazi codes. So it could be argued that Hitler had a large effect on technology in the 1940's.
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
As stated in the text above, lists like this are really useless. It's just such an objective thing.
To be fair, it's hard to imagine a list like this not including Bill Gates, but how long has Linus been 'important'? Long enough to be number 3 in the top ten most important people of the decade? Hmmm...
And it depends how you define 'important'. Should Saddam Hussein be in there? How about Vladimir Putin, or any of a range of world leaders who've had their say over the last ten years.
My top ten list will be completely different to another person's. That's the way it is.
<irony mode=on>
Now, if I put up a top-ten list of most important people, would I have been mentioned on Slashdot? Probably only if I put Linus in there somewhere...
</irony>
(Spudley Strikes Again!)
What you meant to say was "Where would GNU/Linux be without GCC and GNU Libc?"
Regards, Ralph.
Is there any doubt that this man is not one of the most consummate programmers alive? Carmack & crew at id have done some of the most stunning work in the field of 3d gaming that any of us have ever seen. The man's work is nothing short of prodigious.
He is certainly very influential in the entire industry as well. John is a major supporter of opengl (remember the OGL vs. directx days?) He is on several advisory boards in the industry... he has his hands into everything from Apple to Microsoft.
When JohnC speaks, people listen.
As far as Linus goes, I don't think we have anything to worry about....after all, he's going to be the most important tech person of this *coming* decade!
Got Rhinos?
Where would Linux be without GCC and GNU Libc?
So just because Bill Gates outranked Linus Torvalds, this list is "pretty useless"? Why do I suspect that if Linus was ranked higher than Gates, Slashdot would be holding a rallying cry and citing it as a sign that Linux really is the greatest achievement in the history of the world?
For more information, click here.
Are you talking about those clamshell things with calculator-y keyboards exemplified by the Sharp Wizards, or are you talking about the Casio Zoomer?
The Zoomer was practical if you didn't mind pausing a second after each letter you wrote with Grafitti, and you didn't really care if syncing took ten minutes. I guess. I didn't say first PDA, which was pretty much Apple's, nor did I say the first PDA of the right size, which was the Zoomer and its slow, clumsy ilk.
The Zoomer didn't fail because of bad marketing. It was in every Radio Shack in North America displayed up front and given pride of place in the catalog. It failed because it was a deeply flawed product that did many things, none very well.
The Newton didn't fail because people were too primitive and stupid to understand its genius. The Newton failed because even when they got the speed and handwriting stuff right, they were still trying to sell the new models for $1100 USD and they were the size of a rack of barbecued ribs.
The Palm was the first PDA that had the right size (zero carry), the right price (under $400 from the start) and the right interface (simple and efficient). Consider this: it took Microsoft and its hardware partners three years and three product iterations after the Palm was introduced to figure this out and make a product that could grab more than 10% market share.
Steve Jobs would undoubtedly earn a spot in the top 5 in a list covering the 1970s or the 1980s. But in the 1990s?
Jobs turned Apple around, but Apple isn't really important to computing as a whole anymore, not with an 8% market share. They make nice, leading-edge machines, they have a nice UI, and they're swell at industrial design again, but with the exception of case design, Apple--and Steve Jobs--don't shape computing anymore.
Where's Jeff Hawkins? He's arguably the inventor of the first practical PDA. Just as Apple deserves enormous credit for making existing "outsider" technologies palatable in the '70s and '80s, Palm should get props for making the handheld computer into something for the masses back in '97.
Sure its debatable, but I would give them mention.
Most of my early motivation in computers was do to my desire to figure out "How did that do THAT?". Which quickly followed by "How do I do that myself". I am sure many geeks today feel the same way.
Don't forget Sierra on-line was one of the early companies to promote sound boards (especially theRoland MT-32), they stared on-line gaming a long time ago (remember the Sierra Network), and they also became heavily involved in 3-D after they bought Dynamix. They also were early adopters of CD-ROM based games. I have to say part of Sierra's problems was they were ahead of their time by about 2 years. They were in markets that didn't exist yet.
I have to mention that there is a strong Internet bias in the top 10 list. Some of these people I have never heard of. Remember that the Internet only became main stream a few years ago, but games have been main stream much longer (and therefore have influenced more people).
Er... it's the top ten people of the decade.
While Alan Kay, Steve Wozniak, and RMS are certainly more important than many of the names on that list, remember that some their most significant achievements (the GUI, the Apple II, the GNU project and GPL license) are more than ten years old.
However, I agree that John Carmack ought to be on that list.
Torrey Hoffman (Azog)
Torrey Hoffman (Azog)
"HTML needs a rant tag" - Alan Cox
On Solaris, DOS, Windows and the BSDs?
Where would the Internet be without his brilliant invention, one-click-shopping?
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Gort! Klatu Barata Nikto!
Judge Jackson!
You GO girl!
Soylent Green is people!
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
Since its conception it has influenced the minds of at least 7 software developers. That many people commented on my quote in a non-negative way; most of them heeding it as advice. Which is why, on the bottom of every one of my comments, it says:
"Ancillary does not mean you get to rule the world." --U.S. Circuit Judge Harry Edwards, speaking to the FCC's lawyer
Several concussions, and even two fatalities, have been reported so far. When reached for comment, Bill Gates said, "What were they thinking? It was just another Top Ten list which I nearly won. Do they do this every night Letterman reads his?"
[/spoof]"Ancillary does not mean you get to rule the world." --U.S. Circuit Judge Harry Edwards, speaking to the FCC's lawyer
It can't be a meaningful list. Where's John Katz?????
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"May I have ten thousand marbles, please?"
I must be number 11, tho. Its so nice to be in such distinguished company :-)
The ones I miss are people made a difference, rather than just tons of money. Linus and TB-L made a difference because they were techies, not just to make money. Bill G. and Larry E. are just businessmen in a pissing contest to see who can scam more money off an ignorant public.
the AC
Hemos is like...sci-fi fans;he thinks technology is cool, but he hasn't bothered to understand the science it's based on
But Gates? What's he done in the 90s? Now if this were a list of the 80s, I would agree. He helped turn M$ into a powerhouse during the 80s. But by 1990, it was already dominant, and what's new since then? Windows? Same old, same old, but with newer bugs. Word? Uh, 80s. Bob? Uh, forget that... Buying off congressmen? Maybe that was new for the 90s, I dunno. Oh, I get it! Lying in court! That was definately a 90s sort of thing.
Here is a quote from the article justifying the choice:
"People who admire him point to his unwavering vision for Windows as the universal operating system, and Microsoft Corp.'s leadership in developing applications for that environment. "
ROFL! "Unwavering vision for Windows" = lack of vision for anything else! And M$'s "leadership in developing applications for that environment" = killing any other company who tried to do the same.
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Read the fucking article at all? They didn't say that. They said most important people with no T-E-C-H.
If you still want to see the Unix creators' names in lights, then go to another top ten list. Or better yet, go in a cave and make your own. And don't come out until you can live for today!
"Ancillary does not mean you get to rule the world." --U.S. Circuit Judge Harry Edwards, speaking to the FCC's lawyer
INTERACTIVE
great comedy company.
You said 'Tech People' and I see Steve Jobs on the list. He hasn't been tech in ages, he's just a suit.
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A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Hey, it's really nice to see that Elias Levy made the list. He's a hell of a guy and really deserves it. Lodes of congratulations to him. ;-)
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Shouldn't Al Gore be on that list, for creating the internet?
Even so, the internet was created in the mid 1970s, not the 1990s. People making fun of Gore should at least have some basic understanding of things themselves.
Well, lets go back to sand.
The WWW is based on computers and computers are based on silicon. Silicon comes from sand.
Well sand is based on atoms, .........
Enough already
Fight Spammers!
I know, this is a controversial opinion, but Java's made a mark on the industry, and its entire span of influence has been within this decade, so perhaps its creator should be on this list.
At any rate, I see more of a reason for Gosling to be in the top 10 this decade, than Jobs or Gates, whose major influences were in the last decade.
But yes, lists like this are stupid.
I can spell. I just can't type.
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And Vinod Khosla founded Sun in the early 80's, which is something the discography about him liked to point out several times.
:)
Jobs? Over half the discussion of him details what he did for Apple BEFORE 1990.
Same deal with Gates.
Since the people who wrote the article were apparently willing to blur the lines a bit by focusing on so many past deeds, getting snippy and pointing out the actual creation date of the internet may not mean a whole lot.
As it is, Gore's infamous quote has only appeared within the past ten years, and to 99% of the world's population, the 90's *was* the birth of the internet.
Does that qualify as basic understanding?
Oh, boy. Before you make a post like this, you really need to look at the context. /. deep-linked. If you go to the front page, though, it says this: Help us celebrate as we unveil networking's 10 most influential people.
So, uh, Nelson Mandela really would have been a bad choice.
Perl, Perl, Perl!!! Where would Apache be without it? ...or Slashdot for that matter.
The simple truth is that interstellar distances will not fit into the human imagination
- Douglas Adams
IMHO, as much as dislike much of Microsft's policies, Gates certainly deserves to be listed as number one in the list ... of the 80s.
You're wrong.
In the 1980s, PCs were still in a weird position. It wasn't until Windows 3.0 was released in 1990 that things went through the roof. By the late 90s, Windows-based computers were ubiquitous. Word completely trounced all competitors, too (remember, Word Perfect dominated the late 80s). Excel dominated the spreadsheet market (remember Lotus 1-2-3 and VisiCalc?). Bill Gates wasn't personally responsible for any of this, of course, but Windows and Microsoft took over the computing world in the 1990s. The previous decade was a wind-up.
Everyone else seems to like it, so I'm leaving it. Besides, it serves as a reminder to the programming community to investigate the benefit to society that their creations will give (if any.)
"Ancillary does not mean you get to rule the world." --U.S. Circuit Judge Harry Edwards, speaking to the FCC's lawyer
Actually, I quite agree with Mr. Gates position, at least in regard to his contribution to the free software movement. Bill Gates (and his evil empire) is the single greatest motivator behind the free software/GNU/Linux community. If it weren't for the complete market dominance of Winders and the anti-competitive and illegal behaviour of Microsoft, Linux never would have progressed so far, so quickly.
In my humble opinion. Which is obviously the undeniable Truth and you're an idiot if you don't totally agree with me. Oh, yeah.
Hey, I'm not arguing that all these guys were influential...but sheesh, gimme a break.
Berner's Lee and Steve Jobs, but not Alan Kay? For cripes sake, Kay invented modern GUI.What about Steve Wozniak ? Hello? Steve Jobs wouldn't have been as sucessful if not for Woz!
Ummm, sheesh. Linus Torvalds, good and well. What about Richard Stallman? What good is a kernel if you can't compile it and don't have OS utilities to use it with?Also, there's an area that they didn't cover: modern gaming. While this might not seem like an overly important part of tech: consider this: Games in general have pushed hardware designers to increase the potential and capacity - for example, video cards and sound cards, which have grown so powerful over the last 6 or 7 years that they rival top stuff from 10 years ago, state of the art stuff that cost millions of dollars. Why don't we see any mention of Carmack, Sweeney, Woston or Romero?
Everything is but a number spoken by itself.
Yeah, Tim Berners-Lee, he's great and all, but he gave us the text web. Marc Andreesen should head the list if they want to get into who created the web we know and love today.
eof
-f