Steve Wozniak (born August 11, 1950), nicknamed “Woz,” is an American inventor, electronics engineer, programmer and technology entrepreneur who co-founded Apple Inc. He is known as a pioneer of the personal computer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, along with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Wozniak single-handedly developed the 1976 Apple I, which was the computer that launched Apple. He primarily designed the 1977 Apple II, while Jobs oversaw the development of its unusual case and Rod Holt developed the unique power supply. In 1990, Wozniak helped found the Electronic Frontier Foundation, providing some of the organization’s initial funding. Wozniak’s favorite video game is Tetris, and he has the condition prosopagnosia (or face-blindness).
I thought being character No. 1001 would be appropriate for a computing pioneer like Woz. Here are 14 other characters I chose to honor numerically: No. 88 (Doc Emmett Brown), No. 100 (Benjamin Franklin), No. 200 (Johnny Cash), No. 300 (Leonidas I), No. 400 (Charles Darwin), No. 500 (William Gibson), No. 600 (Jeff Mangum), No. 666 (Nero), No. 700 (J. D. Salinger), No. 800 (Niall Ó Glacáin), No. 888 (Bernie Sanders), No. 900 (Don Hertzfeldt), No. 999 (Edward Snowden), No. 1000 (Alan Turing). As I was compiling this short list, I realized all 14 were male. Sorry, ladies. The patriarchy’s role in gender inequality and my personal focus on political leaders, artists, popular athletes and technology innovators are certainly reflected in the characters I’ve selected. My 8-bit characters are almost exactly 80% male and 20% female, which isn’t very equitable, but I have been making efforts to discover and celebrate a greater proportion of female characters with ongoing series like women in STEM. Modern cultures and our history books are still pretty awful at acknowledging the contributions of women, especially women artists and scientists, but I’m trying to be better.
Elon Musk is a South African-born, Canadian-American business magnate, engineer, inventor and investor. He is the CEO and CTO of SpaceX, CEO and product architect of Tesla Motors and chairman of SolarCity. Musk is the founder of SpaceX and a cofounder of Zip2, PayPal and Tesla Motors. He has also envisioned a conceptual high-speed transportation system known as the Hyperloop and has proposed a VTOL supersonic jet aircraft with electric fan propulsion. Musk was born on June 28, 1971.
Douglas Rushkoff is an American media theorist, writer, technology commentator and documentarian. He is best known for his association with the early cyberpunk culture, and his advocacy of open source solutions to social problems. Rushkoff is also known for coining terms and concepts including viral media (or media virus), digital native and social currency. He has written many books on media, technology and culture—as well as fiction works and graphic novels. His new book, Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now, is now available for preorder and will be released on March 15, 2013. Rushkoff was born on this day in 1961.
Two years ago, at WebVisions 2011 in Portland, I had Rushkoff sign my copy of his 2010 book Program or be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age. As we chatted, I told him I worked at a university. He then asked about the learning management system my employing university uses to deliver courses online. I told him Blackboard (and possibly sighed bleakly). In reply, on the inside of the book, Rushkoff wrote, “For Ian – Blackboard is intentional,” and signed his name. His comment points out that software interfaces (and screens, in general) force users into particular patterns of thought, both subconsciously and consciously. Corporate models of screen-mediated learning are increasingly shaping how individuals understand the world, but to whom is the UI/UX in service? In a global sense, who stands to benefit most from the way our brains are being trained to consume/learn in this digital world? Related to these questions is another recent Rushkoff book, Life, Inc.: How the World Became a Corporation and How to Take It Back, for which there are many interesting videos available.
An American entrepreneur and inventor. He was co-founder, chairman and former CEO of Apple. In the late 1970s, Jobs and company developed one of the first commercially successful lines of personal computers, the Apple II series. In the 2000s, he led Apple’s return to profitability with the iMac, iTunes Store, iPod, iPhone and iPad. Jobs also held leadership roles at Pixar and Disney.
In memoriam: Steve Jobs passed away yesterday, on October 5, 2011. Rest in peace.
Steve Wozniak – No. 1001
Steve Wozniak (born August 11, 1950), nicknamed “Woz,” is an American inventor, electronics engineer, programmer and technology entrepreneur who co-founded Apple Inc. He is known as a pioneer of the personal computer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, along with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Wozniak single-handedly developed the 1976 Apple I, which was the computer that launched Apple. He primarily designed the 1977 Apple II, while Jobs oversaw the development of its unusual case and Rod Holt developed the unique power supply. In 1990, Wozniak helped found the Electronic Frontier Foundation, providing some of the organization’s initial funding. Wozniak’s favorite video game is Tetris, and he has the condition prosopagnosia (or face-blindness).
I thought being character No. 1001 would be appropriate for a computing pioneer like Woz. Here are 14 other characters I chose to honor numerically: No. 88 (Doc Emmett Brown), No. 100 (Benjamin Franklin), No. 200 (Johnny Cash), No. 300 (Leonidas I), No. 400 (Charles Darwin), No. 500 (William Gibson), No. 600 (Jeff Mangum), No. 666 (Nero), No. 700 (J. D. Salinger), No. 800 (Niall Ó Glacáin), No. 888 (Bernie Sanders), No. 900 (Don Hertzfeldt), No. 999 (Edward Snowden), No. 1000 (Alan Turing). As I was compiling this short list, I realized all 14 were male. Sorry, ladies. The patriarchy’s role in gender inequality and my personal focus on political leaders, artists, popular athletes and technology innovators are certainly reflected in the characters I’ve selected. My 8-bit characters are almost exactly 80% male and 20% female, which isn’t very equitable, but I have been making efforts to discover and celebrate a greater proportion of female characters with ongoing series like women in STEM. Modern cultures and our history books are still pretty awful at acknowledging the contributions of women, especially women artists and scientists, but I’m trying to be better.