Where is Dennis Ritchie's day?
It's now a week since the creator of the C programming language, and co-creator of the UNIX operating system, Dennis Ritchie, died after a long illness. I still have the distinct impression that Steve Jobs' charisma and Apple's links to pop culture have generated far more hype than the former's profound contributions to technology.
A few days ago I'd shared the New York Times obituary on Ritchie, which garnered comments from my loyal readers (thank you, Klaus and Mick!) Since then, I'd been looking at various media sources to see what more would be said about him. However, I see announcements instead like this (Californian governor declares October 16 Steve Jobs Day), and threads like this (Google has neither created a doodle nor provided a hyperlink to Ritchie, despite doing the latter for Jobs).
It seems there must be many more people who share my disappointment and outrage that Ritchie's passing has been eclipsed so effectively by the timing of Jobs' death: here's a blog entry from Computerworld, which makes some more interesting comparisons.
A few days ago I'd shared the New York Times obituary on Ritchie, which garnered comments from my loyal readers (thank you, Klaus and Mick!) Since then, I'd been looking at various media sources to see what more would be said about him. However, I see announcements instead like this (Californian governor declares October 16 Steve Jobs Day), and threads like this (Google has neither created a doodle nor provided a hyperlink to Ritchie, despite doing the latter for Jobs).
It seems there must be many more people who share my disappointment and outrage that Ritchie's passing has been eclipsed so effectively by the timing of Jobs' death: here's a blog entry from Computerworld, which makes some more interesting comparisons.
Dennis Ritchie and Steve Jobs both made unique contributions to technology. One was a humble scientist that made contributions in the 70ies, the other a businessman, an inventor and an entertainer who was on stage earlier this year.
ReplyDeleteNot surprisingly Jobs gets all the attention, but then from what I read about Ritchie, he probably wouldn't have cared much for the flattery anyway.
Well yes - I had another friend comment along these same lines (on the soon to be defunct Buzz, though you may have seen it, Klaus?). I'm not disagreeing with you nor her - it does occur to me my rhetorical question has very obvious and reasonable answers. But I do stand by my response to the latter: "... [I'm j]ust disappointed in the media and esp. in Google for not taking this opportunity to get more of the less informed/aware folks, well, clued into just how profound Ritchie's contributions are."
ReplyDeleteI would also venture to say that in my view tributes, wakes and other death related rites are never actually *for* the deceased's appreciation, but for those who remain alive.
Good distinction, and I appreciate your point of view - it actually aligns remarkably well to mine.
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