Stephen Wilhite, who created the GIF format in the 1980s, died of complications from Covid-19 like nearly a million people in the United States soon. He was 74 years old.
Kathaleen, Wilhite’s wife, revealed the sad news during an interview with The Verge, saying the programmer was surrounded by family at the time of his death at the age of 74. Stephen Wilhite was best known for being the creator of the famous GIF formatwhile working for internet service provider CompuServe in the 1980s.
GIFs or Graphics Interchange Format are now ubiquitous on the Internet. They are used as messages, for memes or as reactions on many social networks, including Twitter and Facebook, which was recently blocked in Russia for “extremism”. However, in the 1980s, GIFs didn’t have the same use at all.
Also read: Moon Knight – actor Gaspard Ulliel is dead
The GIF was not invented to make memes on the Internet
Originally, Wilhite did not create the GIF format to use it in the same way as today. Indeed, he developed it as a way to distribute high-quality, easy-to-download color images at a time when internet speeds were much slower than they are today. ” He invented the GIF all by himself – he actually made it at home and brought it to work after perfecting it said his wife Kathaleen. ” He would design everything privately in his head and then proceed to program on the computer. “.
Wilhite retired in the early 2000s, but has been able to see his invention spread widely on the Internet over the years, and since the arrival of social networks, the GIF format has become ubiquitous. He also received a Webby Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013 for this format. Finally, for those who are still wondering how to pronounce GIF, its creator has always insisted on saying “jif” and not with a “g” like “gift”.
Those close to him have posted their memories of Wilhite on a memorial page, recalling that while he was best known for his work on one of the most important formats on the modern Internet, his contributions during his long career in computing ranged from user interface to online chat software “.
Source: Megie Funeral Home
