Iconic I.T. pioneers are dying

Now Steve Jobs' passing away is sad, we lost someone whose success was largely derived from innovation. He was so visible, we saw him deteriorate, time to prepare ourselves. Jobs persona is unique, but far away, disconnected from my world, that's why it was not shocking. In some ways we could be happy he was able to stay with us a few years more thanks to modern science. What a few years they were too!

I've just heard the news about Dennis Ritchie. Ritchie has had a very profound impact on my life, more than any innovation at Apple ever could. I built my career on C and Unix in the early days and still vividly recall my excitement when I obtained my first (and now long lost) copy of the K&R C book. The one with the very first "Hello. World!" programming example. Mac OS X and iOS are dependent upon these two fundamental building blocks, C and Unix, both of which Ritchie was instrumental in creating. Despite all this greatness, Ritchie was just another engineer, albeit one that had done something quite remarkable. I feel so deeply saddened to hear of his passing. It really is quite a shock, a jolt.

Jobs passing makes me wonder what we're left with, will innovation continue or will the Ellison's and Balmers use their might to bring us back to a time when innovation was stifled. It's more a fear of big business, a fear of repression.

Ritchie passing makes me realise that many of the Pioneers of current technology are quite old, it makes me think about my future and wonder that I'm on the right path. Many of them are only a generation or two old than me. When I was much younger, these were hero's, now though I see the person, the hard working engineer, who in some back room has changed our world so significantly that you realise Apple didn't really innovate anything much in terms of technology, but they packaged it properly and made it usable.

Ritchie was key in creating Unix and C, Jobs made it usable and he made it cool to carry around a computer running on Unix in your pocket or bag.

R.I.P. Ritchie and Jobs