| |
| 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, 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. |
| |
|