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Weekend Open Forum: Tech innovators who deserve more attention

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On July 27, 2012, 7:00 PM

With the rapid advancement of modern technology, it's increasingly humbling to look back at the computer industry's beginnings. Bill Gates, Linus Torvalds, Tim Berners-Lee and the late Steve Jobs are all famous for their contributions, but there are hundreds of scarcely-recognized individuals who fundamentally changed the course of history and laid the foundation for later generations.

Bob Kahn along with the better-known Vint Cerf co-invented two crucial protocols, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP), both of which are at the heart of the Internet. Meanwhile, Bell Labs researcher Dennis Ritchie is regarded as the father of C, the forerunner for nearly every modern programming language. Sadly, he passed away shortly after Jobs last October.

These are just two people who greatly influenced the world but never became household names. What other technology innovators deserve more attention and why?

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User Comments: 29

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  1. Even my dog is more inventive than Steve Jobs. And far more likeable. Actually, he smells better too, esp now.

  2. I honestly hope talking shit about someone that is dead, makes you feel like a man. Maybe you can provide examples of how you are contributing to mankind, next time you decide to spread negativity about someone that is known for their contributions.

  3. WTF is Jobs famous for contributing, except the incessant patent trolling ? He hasn't done anything worth mentioning alongside those other great names listed.

    Are you insane or what??He is a well contributor to this modern gadget world.He revolutionised the industry by inventing iphones,ipads typa products..Let me know what other companies did in terms of creativity..??btw I am big big fan of Stephen Hawking..

  4. RajeGera - You my good sir, are the crazy one. Steve Jobs didn't "Invent" anything other than the SCB - As in...the SelfishCreditAbsorber. Taking the spotlight, credit, and majority of money associated with it. The computer was already invented, the overly-patriotic fanbase of Apple "lovers" began when they called it an "Apple Computer" instead of "Computer by Apple" Steve Wozniak designed the first Apple Product. Steve Jobs could have made a whole lot more people happier in this world if he shared the wealth

    http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000984.htm - Notice how this article explains the first of every type of "Computer" then gives Apple it's own category. Not because of it's OS difference, but because it wasn't the real "First" of any "Real Computing Category".

    Since then, we still hear about this obsession with "iAnything" for instance, two news articles about two different instances of someone's cell phone getting stolen. Yet in one, they emphasize that the "iPhone" was stolen instead of just calling it a "cell phone" like a normal media report would.

    In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with being a fan of the OS. But don't hate on other products because yours looks cute and is over-priced. The majority of Apple fans have absolutely NO technology background, therefore obtain the products simply because "Someone said they liked theirs".

    I've even read one writer mention that he thought Steve Jobs was "

    da Vinci of our time." yet behind every engineering feat, every "Sleek Design" there were people that could take nearly full credit for it.

    Please. Tell me this, if he was such a "Great guy" then why call rich people "Monopolist" when Steve Jobs hasn't even donated as much as 1% of his riches, yet those with less than half of what he was pledge to give away more than 50% of their riches?

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