5 replies to this topic

[Axl.EXE]

This image pretty much says it all. Dennis MacAlistar Ritchie is the man who invented C. What is C? C is more or less the base programming language that lead to, well, everything. Half the internet depends on Java, which is an evolution of C. Windows branched out of C, so did Linux. This man practically invented modern computing, and his death was hardly noticed in the media. Why? He died about a week after Steve Jobs.

[y cant solkia crawl]

Steve Jobs (or Apple in general) got more attention from the media than he did, which is why his death was noticed more.

[-Mark-]

The problem here is that only the relatively tech-savvy know who this guy is; a lot of the general public probably don't even know what C or any of its subsequent programming languages are, whereas everyone knows what an iPod/ iPhone is. It's just a case of one being in the public's eye a lot more.

Even if the media did cover Dennis' death more, chances are that much of the public reaction would have simply been "Who is that guy and what did he do? Oh, he made something I've never heard of and don't understand." Hell, I'll admit I'd never heard of him until this topic.

Edited by -Mark-, 01 February 2012 - 08:50 PM.

[krazystitch]

Exactly what Mark said.

It's pretty sad how many incredible people pass by without us even noticing them, whether they did something as big as invent C or not. But the picture proves a great point. Dennis is one who really should have gotten more recognition for what he did. As it was basically explain there, if it weren't for him, we wouldn't have most of the technology that we use today. Its amazing to think that one man was able to invent something with so many limitless possibilities like that. Possibilities that will just continue and continue to expand as we go on through life.

But again, like Mark said, the reason the death of Dennis went more unnoticed is because he didn't really capture the attention of the media and the crowd of the main people. Even though, to be honest, he really should have. People who are really advanced with technology can use C the way it's meant to be used. But just about anyone can hold and use an iPod, so Steve Jobs appealed more to the regular audience rather than those who are well with computers.

Nevertheless though, Dennis was clearly an incredible person who accomplished one of the most amazing feats that anyone could have ever come to do. It's brought us so much for so long and it will continue to do so. Without him, there's so much that we wouldn't have today. May Dennis rest in peace, he was clearly a very brilliant and deserving man.

[Legendary Emerald]

I'll have to give the media's coverage of this man's death a... C-.

Spoiler

In all seriousness though, RIP bro.

Edited by Legendary Emerald, 01 February 2012 - 11:16 PM.

[Metal Gear (sting)RAY]

Going to a tech school, I was aware of his death not too long after he passed away, but C really changed the paradigm of programming with its beautiful and practical syntax. Even beyond those directly derived from it like C++ and C#, you can see its influence in other major languages like Java and PHP.

Edited by SuperStingray, 02 February 2012 - 03:18 AM.