Wealth or Fame or Work – Steve Jobs or Dennis Ritchie
The month of October 2011 saw these two technical greats in Dennis Ritchie and Steve Jobs leave this world on their heavenly abode. Sad! Sad! Sad!
These two gentlemen breathed, lived and created technology but in a totally different manner which is in total contrast to one another. And their death was looked in the same way both of them lived.
Dennis Ritchie was the creator of C programming language that set the stepping stone for more to come over the years and more importantly was the chief architect of Unix which is still the mother of all operating systems. Both these creations of Ritchie stands way too tall to what Steve Jobs has created/delivered to this world. Dennis has been a technology personified.
Steve Jobs created products with a difference. He saw the world ahead and created wealth – not just for himself but to a whole group of people. He packaged his product with simplicity and built innovative business models. He put technology into a nice package that will pull people. Steve has been a management/business personified.
Nothing against Steve Jobs (honestly a big fan of him) but I think the media, social media, social network and his “cult” of iProduct users have taken his death way too ahead . I strongly believe Ritchie – a humble man needs a much deserving salute and I take pride in writing this one for him who clearly marked the start of a digital era that Steve took to the next level.
What is disgusting is the fact – educated people have fallen for fame, style and hype and have been behind Steve Job’s family during the big loss but have completely ignored this great gentleman – Dennis Ritchie.
I was clearly impressed with this article by Neeraj Thakur – Steve Jobs wasn’t great. I agree with the point he makes that Polio Vaccine changed the world and how Salk (the inventor) chose not to Patent it which could have made him a billionaire or beyond today. That is the commitment to the world and the work he did.
Long story short, the world is moving to a more selfish mode with people clearly seeing Wealth or Fame way ahead of Work. Hope sense prevails.
RIP Steve and Dennis.
typo sorry – though”t”ful… I guess the world is too obsessed with rags to riches stories while greater achievements like Dennis’s are easily forgotten