[Dewie]

Maybe popular history will remember him as the Thomas Edison of computers.

[spiritplumber]

I'd be okay with this. So, who is the Nikola Tesla of computers?

[6d0debc071]

Douglas Engelbart? He made a great many of the underlying ideas we use for using computers. Ironically he only seems to get remembered for the mouse.

The mother of all demos: http://youtu.be/JfIgzSoTMOs

Is well worth watching for a historical perspective if you haven't seen it already.

[alayne]

J.C.R. Licklider is an interesting character in computer development history, particularly for his involvement in the development of timesharing, networks, and personal computing.

[oscargrouch]

Alan Turing? Von Neumann?

The minds from the beginning of the century XX were the best.. even about computing.. invent things from virtually nothing is pretty hard

[paul_f]

Alan Kay