| |
| Apart from the
crazy world of 1998 and 1999 when only having a
back of envelope idea seemed to matter; they did
also consider the size of market the idea was
aimed at; the feasibility of the technology; the
ability to defend the intellectual property, the
strength of the management team, a viable
business model and, of course, an exit route with
reasonable chance of gain. But people still
dominate their consideration. |
- Does
the chief technologist know what he is
talking about? Can he pull together and
motivate the team to make it happen?
- Does
the chief executive have the skills and
connections to build the business?
- Can the
chief financial guy keep the costs on
track while developing the hymn sheet to
exhort the investors?
- And
let's not forget the evangelising
marketeers and salesmen who transform the
ideas into commercial realities
|
|
| Here we list
some who have entered history as those who
changed (technology) things: |
|
| Allen,
Bardeen, Bechtolsheim, Berners-Lee, Brattain,
Bricklin, Brinn, Case, Chambers, Christensen,
Coase, Collier, DeCastro, Dell, Dijkstra,
Ellison, Friend, Gates, Gaunt, Grove, Hamming,
Hewlett, Hoff, Hopper, Ives, Jobs, Johnson, Joy, Kernighan, Kilby,
Kosla, Lesk, Lynch,
McCaw, McNealy, Metcalfe, Moore, Noyce, Olsen,
Packard, Pratt, Ritchie,
Sanders, Shockley, Thompson, Torvalds, Welch,
Widlar, Zuckerberg. |
| and
some of the technologies that changed the world
in recent times: |
| BlueTooth,
C,
CamCorder, COBOL, CD, CDMA, CMOS, Credit Card,
DOS, DRAM, DVD, eMail, Ethernet, Fax, Flash,
Hamming Code, GPS, GSM, Hypertext, Internet,
Java, JPG, Linux, Liquid Crystals, MacIntosh,
minDV, Microprocessor, Minicomputer, Modem,
Mouse, MP3, MPEG, Nanotechnology, Operational
Amplifier, OHP, Oscilloscope, OLED, Packet
Switching, PC, PDA, PKI, Planar Technology,
Satellite TV, Scanners, SocialGraph, Spreadsheet,
Structured Programming, TCP/IP, Transistor, TTL,
Unix, VHS, VoiceMail, Windows, Word processor,
World Wide Web, ZIP. |
| |
| Our
lists are not exhaustive and may (?) even be a
little subjective. We'll be adding short profiles
of each of them over the coming months. Do let us know if you
think you or others deserve a mention (especially
why; even better if you write 'em up!) and we'll
see what we can do to balance things. Maybe one
day we will run a poll so you can put them in
order. |
| |
| You can find Frank Morris's
profile here. |
| |
|