Dennis Ritchie

Dennis Ritchie, one of the pioneers in the field of modern computing passed away earlier this week. He was the creator of the C programming language and was instrumental in the development of Unix as well.

Generations of programmers took their first baby steps in the world of programming through his definitive book (co authored with Kerninghan) - 'The C Programming Language'

Except for eulogies in the technology press, his passing away seems to have found not much mention in the mainstream media. But his contributions to technology have been no less than Steve Jobs who passed away earlier this month.

Let me quote two statements that bring out the importance of Ritchie's contributions to the world of computing.

Google programmer, Tim Bray - "I've been living in a world he helped invent for over thirty years,"

James Grimmelman - "Ritchie's influence rivals Jobs's; it's just less visible."

Stay Hungry Stay Foolish

Here is a link to Steve Job's famous speech at Stanford in 2005

http://www.ndtv.com/article/technology/stay-hungry-stay-foolish-steve-jobs-famous-speech-139029

And I just can't resist uploading Amul's tribute to Jobs.

iCon

Earlier this week Steve Jobs passed away. The impact this man had on the world can be gauged from the reaction across the world. From the most powerful man in the world to the average joe in the street, millions mourned his death.

Jobs touched hundreds of thousands of people - those who use one or the other of the Apple gadgets every day .

The genius of this man was not just in his technology savvy nature nor that of the organisation he built (not once but twice !) but in the way he used technology to enhance customer interface and took it to a completely different plane altogether.

Commentators have said that he brought ‘beauty to technology’. I was watching a tech guru on the BBC yesterday. He mentioned that once when Jobs was talking about one of the Macs, he was highlighting the back of the product and how smooth it was. The commentator went on to ask ‘How many Tech CEOs talk about the back of a product as a selling point attribute?’ While most focus on just functionality, Jobs (and Apple) gave equal importance to the form factor as well.

There have been many geniuses from the Silicon valley, some more ‘geniusey’ than Jobs, but he will be the one remembered most for revolutionising the way we use technology.

Steven Paul Jobs, you will live on in the memories of all those who use an ipod / ipad / iphone / iMac / i….