Designers and developers play a pivotal role in society, as they are responsible for several innovations that affect the way we communicate and enjoy leisure time. Their contributions to society are met with both hate and adoration as people judge them from a distance.
Despite the success of their respective contributions, it is important to know that these developers and designers are not two-headed mutant savants planning world domination. Most of them are simply innovators looking to make the world a more enjoyable place.
Our Love Hate Relationship
Bram Cohen
Bram Cohen is a former graduate student of the University at Buffalo. While completing the computer science program at his graduate school, Bram Cohen designed a protocol in Python that supported the practice of peer-to-peer file sharing. This protocol has become popular for being able to distribute large amounts of data through the Internet.
Today, peer-to-peer networks have accounted for approximately 40-70% of Internet traffic. As of March 2013, BitTorrent was responsible for approximately 3% of the World Wide Web’s bandwidth. Despite anti-pirating measures from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), BitTorrent garners more traffic than Facebook and YouTube combined. Despite constant legislation, Bram Cohen has claimed he has never used BitTorrent for illegal purposes. The same cannot be said of the casual “BitTorrenter,” as more than 200,000 users have been sued for file sharing on BitTorrent since 2010.
The amount of lost revenue in the music and movie industry is more than enough for entertainment executives to hold a grudge against Bram Cohen. After all, he’s the programmer that’s made it easier to download the latest albums, movies, and software at absolutely no cost to the end user. While casual users appreciate his contributions to file sharing technology, hardworking movie and music producers hate the man for making it easier to steal copyrighted material.
Bill Gates
The famous college dropout is founder of Microsoft and has a huge influence on the software giant’s projects and overall vision. Since its inception in 1975, Microsoft has emerged as the world’s leading software development firm. Microsoft’s Windows platform revolutionized the market by introducing an operating system that is both functional and easy to use. In recent years, a significant amount of Microsoft’s market share has been taken by Apple.
The emergence of the iPhone has made it more difficult for Microsoft to maintain its monopoly in the software market. Passionate Apple aficionados all over the world often express their hate for Microsoft products, citing Apple’s user-friendly interface and superior processing power as reasons to forgo software offered by Bill Gate’s company.
In addition to the astronomical popularity of Apple products, the absurd amount of wealth accumulated by Bill Gates is another reason the common man finds good reason to hate the entrepreneur and developer.
James Gosling
Aspiring computer programmers around the world are familiar with the Java programming language. The object-oriented programming language is the brainchild of James Gosling. After receiving a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Galbary in 1977, Gosling went on to obtain his Ph.D in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University. James Gosling then joined Sun Microsystems in 1984.
Known as the father of the Java programming language, James Gosling has indirectly affected the lives of millions of people around the world. Programmers appreciate the object-oriented design implemented by Java. In fact, Java’s ease of use is one of the reasons many programmers opt to program in Java as opposed to C++.
Despite his useful contributions to the world of computer science, programmers all over the world surreptitiously curse the man because of the countless hours they spent debugging and compiling Java code. Computer science majors all over the world can thank James Gosling for the many sleepless nights spent coding Java programs.
Tim Berners-Lee
Timothy Berners-Lee is a British computer scientist known for inventing what is now known as the World Wide Web. By creating an information management system in the spring of 1989, successful communication between a Hypertext Transfer Protocol client and a server was made possible and the internet as we know it was born.
The internet’s obvious contribution to society is the fact that individuals and businesses around the world can communicate and transfer information at record speeds. However, the internet is often cited as the primary reason for many of the negative social norms of the 21st century.
Today, kids would rather sit at home and use social networking sites like Facebook to communicate with friends as opposed to actually going outside and interacting with people. The rise of the internet is also cited as the primary cause of America’s obesity epidemic, as many kids are choosing to play video games on the internet instead of getting physical exercise outside.
Despite creating one of the most revolutionary protocols in the history of computer science, Tim Berners-Lee has directly caused a social revolution that many critics believe is the beginning of a floundering society.
Yaron Schoen
Yaron Schoen is one of the lead designers of Twitter. Working out of his office in midtown New York, Yaron Schoen is responsible for the majority of the user interface implemented on Twitter. While many people love Twitter as a marketing tool and its ability to reach audiences all over the world.
Detractors hate the social networking platform because it gives users a medium to post useless “tweets” and updates regarding their everyday lives. How many people would honestly appreciate a status update about a person’s relationship, eating habits, menstrual cycle, or bowel movements? Personal information should not be posted on the internet and there’s a reason many people love to hate Yaron Schoen and the other developers of Twitter.
Sergey Brin and Larry Page
Sergey Brin and Larry Page are the co-founders of Google and are responsible for revolutionizing the search engine market. By introducing page rank, Google has made websites compete for optimal page placement. Because of this, billions of dollars are spent each year on Google AdWords in hopes of generating website traffic.
By dominating the search engine market it is hard to ignore the fact that Google has access to all of your search queries. By documenting the search queries of people all over the world, Google has effectively created a worldwide blackmailing tool that can be used as a weapon of mass destruction in the future. Do you trust Google with the history of every search query you’ve made?
Imagine this: in 10 years, Google can force users to donate 10% of their monthly income in exchange for not releasing transcripts of all your porn searches and health questions you were afraid to ask your doctor. Behold Google’s most profitable product of the future: Google Tithes. Garnish 10% of your wages and the devilish programmers of Google will promise to keep your sketchy search queries a secret.
Matt Mullenweg
Web designers all over the world can thank Matt Mullenweg for his creation of WordPress. Designers applaud WordPress’s user interface and its plethora of plugins making it easier to implement search engine optimization and eCommerce solutions.
Like all content management systems, however, WordPress is not immune to criticism. A vocal minority claim that WordPress is taking the creativity out of web design because of the multitude of pre-made templates available.
Dong Nguyen
Dong Nguyen is responsible for thousands of broken iPhones around the world. Many users have hurled their iPhones into walls and bodies of water due to the sheer frustration of playing Flappy Bird. The addictive game is both criticized and praised for its difficulty.
After witnessing a meteoric rise in popularity during the beginning of 2014, Dong Nguyen removed the app from the App Store and Google Play on February 10, 2014. Since then, thousands of imitation apps have emerged as developers around the world are taking advantage of Flappy Bird’s popularity.
Jaakko Iisalo
Before Flappy Bird, Angry Birds was the premier game featuring avian critters. The Angry Birds franchise is responsible for countless spin-offs, merchandise, and media attention. In essence, Angry Birds is a shining example of capitalism in the 21st century.
Taking advantage of the modern user’s short attention span, the game is both simple and addictive enough to demand many hours of gameplay, that could be used on productive tasks such as writing a book or replanting trees in hopes of helping the environment. Every dollar spent on Angry Birds is another dollar being given to ruthless entrepreneurs who could care less about the common man and the everyday problems we face. Do not succumb to the hype. Avoid the Angry Birds phenomenon like it’s the bird flu.
Kim Swift
Kim Swift is the video game designer responsible for both Left 4 Dead and Portal. Critics have universally praised these games. Because of the commercial and critical success of these games, Kim Swift is a valued member of Valve and involved in many of the software developer’s projects.
It’s hard to hate such a talented developer. However, developers all over the world are secretly jealous of Kim Swift’s ability. It is hard to believe that the games sponsored by Valve have gained just as much fan following as bigger-budget studios like Bungie Games (Halo series) and Activision.
Who Do You Hate Most?
Overall, it is difficult to completely hate the aforementioned designers and developers for their contributions to computer science and software development. However, the social impact of their inventions cannot be ignored.
Because of this, acrimony is indirectly targeted toward these beloved developers and end-users readily use them as the scapegoats of declining social norms and capitalistic endeavors.
Do you love or hate any of the above mentioned people? Let us know the reason whatever your decision is!
