Sergey Brin and Larry PagegoogleGoogle is now bigger and more controversial than ever as Brin and Page continue to dominate the world of tech.“Obviously everyone wants to be successful, but I want to be looked back on as being very innovative, very trusted and ethical and ultimately making a big difference in the world”, Sergey Brin once said. Who knows if he and partner-in-search Larry Page had even the faintest idea just how popular the omnipotent Google would become?Google.com’s 12th year has been huge. The giant and enigmatic money-printing machine that is its search engine remains its most potent weapon, but beneath that there’s always something going on. From the constant bubble of new apps for the Android mobile platform, to the launch of the spouse-tracking Latitude, to the clamour over the roll-out of Street View in the UK – one small village in Buckinghamshire grabbed pitchforks and forces its camera car to go elsewhere – Google’s been bigger and more controversial than ever.Whatever your concerns over Google’s mission to learn everything about everyone, there’s no denying Brin and Page’s influence on the worldwide web and, by extension, the world itself. Several hundred million search results are processed daily, and being at or near the top of its listings can make or break a company or news story. That’s real2-Evan Williams
Evan WilliamsTwitterBefore Evan Williams brought us the brilliant Twitter, we had no idea what 45 million people were having for tea. And that's just the start...Twitter launched in 2006, had a slow start, then snowballed, 140 characters at a time, into the hottest social networking service of 2008 and 2009.Twitter is the darling of the tech industry. So much so that it routinely goes down during tech conferences due to the sheer number and frequency of updates from users evangelising – or criticising – the latest gizmo. It’s proved invaluable for everyone from corporates and celebrities to your aunt Edna in Solihull to connect to others in real time.Mr Williams, we salute you. Before your site arrived, we had no idea what over 45 million people are having for tea…3-Daniel Ek
Daniel EkSpotifyIn less than a year, Daniel Ek’s Swedish music-streaming website, Spotify, has changed the face of the music industry.The numbers are compelling: over two million users in the UK alone. A six-million- song catalogue, with an average of 10,000 more tracks added each day. In less than a year, Daniel Ek’s Swedish music-streaming website has changed the face of the music industry.Ek told T3: “People who pirate music are beginning to see a better alternative – one where music is easy to access and 100 per cent legal – while the business has changed from being about ownership to an access model where all the world’s music can be offered in the cloud”.Now that Spotify’s mobile app for the iPhone and Android platforms has launched, the sky really is the limit for the Swedish company…4-Stephen Fry<<p style="text-align: left;">Stephen FryCelebrityComedian and PresenterFrom publishing long-winded diatribes on his blog, to amassing over 700,000 followers on Twitter, Mr Fry has taken the tech world by storm.With over 700,000 followers on Twitter, the Jeeves and Wooster comedian has taken the tech world by storm. But he hasn’t actually taken THE Storm – he famously slated the BlackBerry Storm last November on Twitter, describing it as “shockingly bad. I mean embarrassingly awful”.RIM may protest all they want about Fry’s negative review of the Storm not affecting sales (in the run-up to Christmas 2008, it was the most sold smartphone in the UK), however the tech industry would have to disagree. From publishing long-winded diatribes on his blog (we’re talking 9,466 words, for one of them), he confesses “I never met a smartphone I didn’t buy”, and is infamous for being the second Brit to purchase the Apple II in the UK.5-Sir Howard Stringer
Sir Howard StringerSonyWelsh Sony bigwig done good; Stringer may be leading the world's largest tech company but has his work cut out when it comes to their bottom line.Hailing from Wales, Howard may’ve been badly bruised by the recession (Sony announced its first losses in 14 years this year), yet they’re still a reckoning force in the market, particularly when other consumer electronics manufacturers are also suffering hugely.Nonetheless, with the newly-announced PS3 Slim gaming console offering more bang for its buck, their gaming division is expected to pick up in the lead to Christmas. The Japanese company has just announced its first proper netbook, the W series, which is bound to shift a few more units than its massively-overprice d Vaio P “ultraportable” did.6-Yong Nam
Yong NamLGDespite turbulent times, LG has pulled off a big performance in 2009.Quietly sneaking up the ladder this year, LG’s shocked with its massive rise in profits despite the tumultuous times.Surprisingly, it's been their mobile phone division which has boosted sales in the three months leading up to July of 2009, with the Arena handset adding to the 29.8 million devices sold within the quarter.Speaking of mobile phones, there is of course the LG Watch Phone to consider - whilst it's not likely to sell too many units, it separates LG from the rest of the pack, who have opted to play it safe during the recession.The Korean manufacturer, which is the world's third largest CE company after Samsung and Sony, also had a successful run with its LCD panels, which combine function and style to become an investment purchase.7-Steve Jobs
Steve JobsAppleDelivering record financial results for 2009, with the imminent launch of a tablet PC, Apple could be about reach new heights next quarter.Further reinforcing the notion that Apple is as much about Jobs as Jobs is to Apple, stock prices took a tumble this year when Jobs was off sick for six months. On his return, they bounced back healthily.From the talking iPod Shuffle, to the latest round of MacBook Pro laptops, Apple’s launched some stellar products over the last year, though it’s the future we’re obsessed with when it comes to Apple. Will they announce a tablet PC/netbook before Christmas? An iPhone Nano? An Apple car? These are some of the rumours we’re hoping to see realised; and usually Jobs gives customers what they want. Or he simply creates products we had no idea we needed, like the Apple TV.Our only hope is that Jobs stays embedded in the future of Apple’s products, as we don’t dare imagine what the company would be without him.8-Eric Schmidt
Eric SchmidtGoogleRunning the company whilst Larry and Sergey brainstorm, Schmidt has seen great success at Google.It’s been Google’s biggest year, and whilst the US giant hasn’t been immune to controversy this time ‘round (see Street View, Latitude, Google Voice on the iPhone), Chairman Schmidt has held it all together superbly.On a salary of just $1 a year, Schmidt handles the day-to-day running of Google, while Larry Page and Sergey Brin concentrate on being the creative forces behind the brand.Up until recently, Schmidt sat on the board of directors at Apple, however due to conflicting interests between the two companies he chose to resign. Google Android and Google Chrome OS being the main areas of competition between Google and Apple.9-Mark Zuckerberg
Mark ZuckerbergFacebookThe fresh-faced founder is being taken very seriously for his university creation, though had some trouble earlier this year over privacy settings.Sure, we all abandoned Facebook for Twitter, but there’s now over 200 million registered users, making Facebook the fifth-largest ‘country’ in the world after China, India, the US and Indonesia.Zuckerberg may be a bit over-keen when pressing the ‘active’ button on site changes, but is on the whole quick to comment, or even reverse a function – as he did earlier this year when concerns were raised about privacy settings on Facebook.With Twitter more of a threat than ever before, it’s up to Zuckerberg to ensure they retain their users’ affections. Being able to “tag” your friends in a status update as you can on Twitter is a nice touch, but Zuckerberg had better tread carefully if he wants to avoid comparisons to Twitter.Acquiring hit US aggregating site FriendFeed is one way Zuckerberg is taking on Twitter. With FriendFeed collecting all the finer aspects of a user’s life (Flickr photos, blog posts, tweets, Facebook activity and more), Facebook now has a powerful aggregation tool right at its fingertips.10-Steve Ballmer
Steve BallmerMicrosoftThe ever-popular Microsoft frontman is doing all he can to take on Google and lead the cloud computing trend. Is it too late, though?Microsoft’s helmsman has toned down his act recently. The newly sombre Steve is the perfect man to lead the Windows 7 charge, along with the Redmond-based company’s cloud computing push.Having taken over after Bill Gates retired mid-2008, Ballmer has worked tirelessly on his image, with his keynote speech at CES 2009 showing an intelligent, insightful man who knows just where to take Microsoft. Together with Ray Ozzie, Robbie Bach, and ol’ Billy Gates, Ballmer has well and truly embedded Microsoft in the 21st century.Source:Iran-Group
You need to be a member of MyEnglishClub to add comments!
Replies