RIP, father of GIFs, Stephen Wilhite
Stephen Wilhite, the brains behind the Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), passed away on March 14th, days after his 74th birthday. Stephen, one of AOL’s primary architects, died due to COVID-19 related issues. Stephen came up with GIFs in 1987 while working at Compuserve. GIFs rose to popularity and became the prominent mode of ​​expression and memetic communication on a bunch of social media platforms. GIF maintained its de facto standard status for 8-bit colour images on the Internet until PNG became a viable alternative. CompuServe initially introduced GIFs in the late 1980s as a way to distribute “high-quality, high-resolution graphics” in colour at a time when internet speeds were painstakingly low. Before working with CompuServe Information Manager, he ran a team that created compilers and run-time systems for use on the DECsystem-10 computers. Most notable were the FORTRAN and BASIC compilers and run-time systems, and a substantial library called “BTOOLS” to support BLISS programming. After a successful career, Stephen retired around the early 2000s and spent his time travelling, camping, and building model trains in his basement. Wilhite won a lifetime achievement award at The Webby Awards in 2013.
Stephen came up with GIFs in 1987 while working at Compuserve.
Stephen came up with GIFs in 1987 while working at Compuserve.
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A writer by passion, Kartik strives to get a deep understanding of AI, Data analytics and its implementation on all walks of life. As a Senior Technology Journalist, Kartik looks forward to writing about the latest technological trends that transform the way of life!