Brainiest Tech Titans
Fortune magazine (for which I worked as a college senior) has chosen what it deems "The Smartest People in Tech." In the CEO category, it picked Steve Jobs, which I have difficulty contesting. Even though the Mac isn't reaching its full potential due to pricing, Jobs is setting the agenda for consumer electronics. Heck, I reckoned Apple was dead two decades ago. But now it is worth roughly the same amount as Redmond.
I didn't see Steve Ballmer on the list, who was probably overlooked because he's been helping drive Microsoft for a full three decades.
One shocking entry was the inclusion of Demand Media founder Richard Rosenblatt. If Google is public enemy number one for quality journalism, Demand Media is clearly number two.
Google takes content that folks, like myself, worked hard to create and sells ads against my links -- with no recompense.
Demand has a different approach: They pay out-of-work journalists (many of whom are unemployed thanks to Google) and amateurs chump change to crank out junk all designed to show up in search results. This is what Fortune considers genius? They could have just as easily chosen the founders of Chinese sweat shops that crank out Wal-mart sweat suits.
Rosenblatt may be far smarter than me, but smarter than Ballmer? I don't think so.
Who are your choices for the smartest (and dumbest) tech titans? Vote at [email protected].
Posted by Doug Barney on July 16, 2010