Why are we so selective in
remembering the people who matter, wonders an old-timer.
BC: Hi, why the sad sack impersonation?
AD: Just reading a whole lot of
touching tributes to Steve Jobs. It's almost a month since he passed
away, and the messages are still pouring in...
BC: That's the impact the man has had
on billions of lives. Incidentally, the world lost another genius
exactly a week later.
AD: Who?
BC: Dennis Ritchie.
AD: Who was he?
BC: Isn't it ironical that we know
Steve Jobs so well, but have hardly heard of Dennis Ritchie?
AD: It’s not. Steve Jobs designed
devices that are so popular - from iMacs to iPods, iPads and
iPhones...
BC: Dennis Ritchie was the father of C,
the programming language, and he co-created the Unix operating
system.
AD: So?
BC: Your browsers, servers and almost
everything on the web, owe their origin to C or one of its
derivatives. And most of the operating systems in existence today,
including Apple's OS for all its devices are Unix-based.
AD: Really?
BC: Yes! So you see, if Steve Jobs was
the guru of gizmos, Dennis Ritchie was considered the ‘man who
shaped the digital era’.
AD: Interesting, but I'm surprised that
you know about him.
BC: I read a brilliant piece about him
on the web a fortnight ago... that was when I realised his
contribution to our present world.
AD: The iPod and the Mac are so much a
part of our lives... not quite the case with C.
BC: Is the ice cream scoop a part of
your life?
AD: Guess so.
BC: Who invented it?
AD: I don't remember...
BC: In other words, you don't know. You
wouldn't happen to know who invented the bottle opener or the
dishwasher or the...
AD: Listen, spare me, I’m not into
quizzing.
BC: If Steve Jobs is popular because he
developed so many devices that we use on an everyday basis...
AD: But Steve Jobs gave us the latest
in technology - the rest of your examples are mundane kitchen
items...
BC: Technology? Let’s see... there
have been so many versions of Apple computers over the decades. In
less than five years, we have seen five generations of the iPhone.
But do you know that the ice cream scoop has remained untouched by
technology? It’s remained unchanged for over 110 years now…
AD: Really?
BC: Yes! So why should the ‘lowly’
ice cream scoop be any lesser than a modern device, especially when
it is thumbing its nose at technology?
AD: Unless you're particular about a
play on words, I don't see how anyone can compare an iPhone and
icecream...
BC: The human mind is so fickle – on
one hand, we fail to give credit where it's due, and on the other, we
simply follow the mob. Today, even someone who hasn't heard of Apple
computers is empowered to click a ‘like’ button on a eulogy to
Steve Jobs.
AD: Look, I can use an iPhone or iPad
to find out who Steve Jobs is. But I can eat all the ice cream in the
world and it won’t lead me to the inventor of the ice cream scoop.
Incidentally, who created it?
BC: Alfred L Cralle, an Afro-American
inventor…
AD: Never heard of him…
BC: Perhaps he should have called it
the i-scoop and advertised that it does not require a power source,
maintenance or upgrades. Your generation would have i-dolised him for
sure.
No comments:
Post a Comment