Submitted by CNN made a top 10 list of people who do not matter anymore in the tech industry. Among them, Steve Ballmer, Linus Torvalds, Jonathan Schwartz, Rob Malda from Slashdot, and Ken Kutaragi (responsible for the Playstation). This list is actually a by-product from their top 50 list of people who do matter; which containts, among others, Steve Jobs.
I’m sorry, but saying the CEO of the world’s most successful software company doesn’t matter sounds like sour grapes. I’m no MS fanboy by any means, but for that to be the first person listed takes away any credibility to this article, IMHO.
You have to remember that Balmer’s spotlight was him calling for developers.
And failing to respond to the articles reasoning for saying he’s unimportant but simply responding with an obvious argument ruins yours.
What’s your point?
Ballmer is a loudmouth idiot. It is pleasing to see his ugly face pop up first in the list that is in no particular order.
… do not matter.
You can go on and on about who’s who, but the fact remains that everyone of these people play an important role, even if that role is retrospective. The lists… are entertainment at best — not bad at that either.
I think the claim that all these important people ‘do not matter’ must be a tongue-in-cheek sort of idea. These people chosen are obviously a lot more important in the IT world than you or I are. But I think the point of the article is to use a clever, attention-catching device, however flawed it is, to make nonetheless significant points about these people’s changing roles.
Good point.
…Eugenia. Oh, that would mean that she did matter at one point I suppose.
These damned CNN money people don’t matter, nor do all the other lists of most beautifull, most rich, most elegible, most charming, most well dressed, most newsworthy blah blah. They all make me puke.
While Linus isn’t much in the limelight for the hypesters, he still deserves much due respect, whether you use Linux or not.
I guess Isaac Newton. Leonardo da Vinci, Einstein don’t matter either, none of them is contributing much these days either.
Who reads the crap they publish anymore? Who watches their channel?
Bunch of losers willfully looking for only part of the story…………….
You have looked the who matters list, haven’t you?
The people they think matter is mostly a list of some people who are in right now. Nobody will remember half of the most important list in few years. The reasons why they picked these people is that their ventures are pop right now. But those are the same services and companies that will eventually fail because they have no commercial viability.
And the list of people who don’t matter. It’s a list of people who really matter but who aren’t currently as hip as they used to be.
When did the tech industry become like Hollywood?
When did the tech industry become like Hollywood?
When technology fuels Hollywood productions and newspapers/tabloids run stories about scandals and controversy just like any other industry.
So, when does Ballmer hit the best/worst dressed list?
I’m sure all those people got to where they are by worrying about whether some bottom feeder news ragazine thinks they’re hip or not.
Here’s another list:
New Sites Barely Surviving On Delusions Of Former Glory
CNN
Balmer? Still matters because he’ll probably be making policy decisions regarding Windows Vista. Yeah, that’s pretty big.
Hastings? It doesn’t look to me like the DVD is endangered. In fact, there is at the moment an advertisement right under the list entry that would seem to contradict this notion.
Kutaragi? Well, let’s see how Blu-Ray turns out. And remember, Sony is still making other stuff. Lots of other stuff.
Leiberfarb? I see their gripe about him, but really, the idea that safe storage media like the DVD will disappear is quite ridiculous. Backups are the best way to preserve your data and an optical storage medium consisting of a plastic disk with spots or pits is a marvelous way to back things up.
Schwartz? They must be kidding, seriously.
Torvalds? Linux is the kernel, not the OS. Torvalds rights code for the kernel and a lot of the commits go through him. The way the kernel goes is important for obvious reasons, so he still matters, even if he’s not in control of distribution development.
Whoever wrote this thing is quite the ignoramus…
The article is about the future, not right now. In the future this author seems to think it unlikely that people will get media in the mail, but more likely they’ll get it via the net.
I’d say you’re right though. Considering that broadband penetration in the US is not anywhere near 90% I’d say netflix is going to have a large market of non-broadband users for a long time. However, this doesn’t give netflix any real room to expand. All they can do is put blockbuster out of business, woopedy doo. And that does make them fairly unimportant in the tech industry, not that they ever really were.
If he picked 10 people who trivially didn’t matter it wouldn’t be worth reading, but he’s trying to pick famous people who we all believe matter and say why they really don’t. And he made pretty good points about all of them.
“Balmer? Still matters because he’ll probably be making policy decisions regarding Windows Vista. Yeah, that’s pretty big. ”
The only valuable decision Ballmer could make would be to shoot Vista in the head and admit it’s time to bring Windows into the 21st century with a UNIX foundation.
I have to agree with you on this. The fact of the matter is that DVDs are going to be with us for at least the next decade. HD quality DVDs will eventually supplant DVDs; however, that will take time and substantial investment on the part of consumers. Similarly, until the cost of magnetic media falls below the cost of plastic media (ie. DVDs), plastic media will remain popular.
cnnmoney? the home of money, fortune, business2.0, and fortune small business…
I would say when print magazines have to start banning together to afford a website – that is when magazines are obviously hurting. I think that sends a clear message that magazines do not matter. So now they have to make up wild tabloid-esque stories to try and get come clicks since nobody is turning pages anymore either.
I declare shenanigans! This is a list of people who don’t matter and I am not on it.
You, dear sir or madam, are a man or woman after my own heart. I chortled uncontrollably after reading your witty, yet undeniably veracious, statememt.
(Although you are an OSNews staff member. That has to count for something?)
Has anyone looked at the blood red out of date CNN logo and website. The CNN mug that looks like a Stalin keepsake. Please. Fox News looks and feels like something cica 1987 off of the back of a dirty magazine cover. Some faux broze rubbish.
I wipe my ass with them.
Back dated, slow, messy, addridden sloppy, baggy pants, old money, faded glory, wahed out colors….etc 🙂
Sure, he doesn’t matter. He manages to make Linux the most powerful OS, and he doesn’t matter… Who really doesn’t matter is the guy who wrote this article.
You make it sound as if he got the Linux kernel to where it is today single handed.
Correction: Windows is the most powerful OS. Where Windows goes, the industry goes. If Microsoft wants DX9, shader-compliant GPUs in all Vista machines shipped, Microsoft will get DX9, shader-compliant GPUs.
What kind of leverage does Linux have among the manufacturers? Almost none.
nah the industry goes where the people go, but since windows is preinstalled and nobody had a choice it has always been assumed that since everyone was using windows that windows was going where everyone wanted things to go… (i think i confused myself, where was I going with this)
No, Windows is where it is because Microsoft offers backwards-compatibility that dates to the late 80’s/early 90’s, as well as guaranteed support for most operating system products for 10 years.
They are a serious business, and they stand behind their product, even if it’s not top-notch in all cases. Microsoft was there from the start, and they have had a big hand in shaping the industry.
Linux is not “the most powerful OS”. There is no such thing as “the most powerful OS”, different ones fill different rolls. Linux is great on servers, but put it in a role that needs a realtime OS and you won’t get very far. QNX works wonders on embedded systems, but it would choke on a server. The simple fact is that no matter how fervently one worships a given operating system, it will never be able to fill every single role perfectly.
For my money CNN heads the list of companies that do not matter anymore. I am no Windows fan, but to say Bill Gates and others on the list do not matter anymore is kind of like saying the Titanic was unsinkable.
It is fluff like this that illustrates just why so many people do not pay attention to the major news outlets anymore.
I think that’s sort of the opposite, though. The fluff pieces create clicks. News organizations are primarily interested in securing ad revenue regardless of delivery method. Informing people is the pretense but not really the goal and sometimes not even the method chosen to obtain such revenue. During the dot com period such organizations were spewing stupid by the truckload. Some people still ate it up. I think that’s what they enjoy.
I don’t matter! Me! Me! Me! Over here! Me! Yes, Me. I don’t matter either!
Why is no one recognizing?….
sure, he might be an ultra-annoying super geek, but he unfortunately still matters.
Edited 2006-06-27 16:49
Linus really does not matter.
When the GNU community were looking for a full featured kernel that the author was willing to infect with the GPL virus it’s not like there was a lot choice. A great need existed and Linux was coincidentally there to fill it.
It’s not as if Linux was cherry picked due to some technological greatness – – it was just simply available. The “It’ll do” mentality started when Linux was “selected” and continues in the GNU, GPL, and Linux communities today.
The fact that you’re so bitter that it exists is proof enough that Linux and its creator still do matter.
Grow up. It’s an OS, not a religion.
Actually linus needed/wanted/wished for some help. You make it sound as if the gnu community was the predator and the linux kernel the prey…
While Torvalds still oversees any changes made to the innermost core of Linux, most of the innovation is now done by others, and commercial businesses like Red Hat and Novell increasingly steer its future.
Do they know what is Linux? And i didn’t know that KDE, Gnome & Cie were from Novell or RedHat.
The various Linux companies make meaningful contributions through employing developers to work on them. However you should be more surprised if a journalist discusses a specialized subject that you’re familiar with and doesn’t sound stupid.
Did anyone else notice that Linus looks like a lip stick-wearing, sly and horny transsexual in the photo they put up?
I literally LOL’ed.
LMAO
Dont matter?, I wonder if they would say that if there servers for there websites were running on Linux.
Alright, I have to admit it: He does look pretty bad in that photo. But geeks aren’t exactly known for their looks, eh?
Are you kidding me, when I saw that picture, I swear I was looking at the emporer from starwars. Evil looking guy.
Top 10 sites that don’t matter anymore, and write just about anything for a couple of clicks:
1. http://money.cnn.com/
2. http://money.cnn.com/
3. http://money.cnn.com/
4. http://money.cnn.com/
5. http://money.cnn.com/
6. http://money.cnn.com/
7. http://money.cnn.com/
…
Thanks, I’ll be here all day.
Nop. Not single handed. But certainly he got the Linux kernel where it is today.
he AND a whole bunch of others…
Correction: Microsoft is the most powerfull OS provider company. Windows doesn’t have any power. It’s up to Microsoft. And it’s not where Windows goes the industry goes. The industry follows money. I meant other thing with ‘powerful’. I wasn’t talking about money.
In contrast, Linux is not a company, it’s just the OS. But certainly it’s getting more attention every day from manufacturers.
It’s amazing how many OSNews readers don’t know the difference between past tense and present tense, and how many of them don’t read the pertinent articles, e.g. Gates IS on the “Who Matters” list. Please read first before posting!
It’s easier said than done to RTFA. I had to unblock javascript from two domains to read past the first list item. The page was not well designed.
I couldn’t read the list at all. The page came up blank for me except for the banners on top.
Well, it can fulfill different roles. Isn’t that a powerfull OS?