Time 100 Includes Ballmer, Jobs, Allen, Rock Band Creators, Radiohead, Zuckerberg, Arrington
You’re reading it here first ... the tech-related members of the much-hyped Time 100 due to be announced on Time.com overnight (check back here for a link) and at newsstands Friday: Jay Adelson, Paul Allen, Michael Arrington, Steve Ballmer, Steve Jobs, Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy; Mark Zuckerberg. Who’s missing? To start, anyone missing a Y chromosome; we’re now accepting nominations in the comments.
In addition to its occasional quirkiness mixed in with the usual suspects, one of the list’s conceits is the pairings, those asked to write about those who made the list. Warning: some are close to gooey. And, yes, we know we’re only adding to the hype but hard to resist Stevie Van Zandt writing in Time or Guy Kawasaki on Steve Ballmer.
Update: Add Radiohead to that list with Edgar Bronfman Jr. as the author, even though Thom Yorke stressed today elsewhere that’s the pay-as-you-like plan was a one-off.
Excerpts after the jump:
Old guard:
—Paul Allen, co-founder, Microsoft: And not for any reason most of you could have guessed: the Allen Institute for Brain Science, which created a “free neural GPS” by mapping the brain and making the results public.. Thomas Insel, head of the National Institute on Mental Health, and Story Landis, head of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke write: “Allen founded the institute in the belief that with the right tools you can transform the speed of science itself. Not many people can accomplish that even once. Allen is doing it yet again.”
—Steve Jobs, Chairman & CEO, Apple: Barbara Kiviat: “He is always in character and always on message ... Jobs gets called mercurial, egomaniacal, a micromanager. If that sounds a little like a CEO doing his job, maybe that’s because he is—a mighty fine one.”
— Steve Ballmer: Guy Kawasaki writes: “If you want 95% of the wallets of every market that you’re in, then you want this Steve. If you want the 95% of the mind share of every market that you’re in, then you want the other Steve (Jobs). ... Whether you like the company or not, give credit where credit is due: Steve Ballmer kicks ass.”
New guard:
—Jay Adelson, co-founder and CEO, Digg: Lev Grossman: “So if the people choose the news, what exactly does Digg’s CEO do? He manages the community, grows the business and curates the arcane algorithms that translate votes into ranking and placement.”
—Michael Arrington, TechCrunch: HuffPo’s Arianna Huffington dubs blogging’s rep with a rep “an accidental power broker.” He is the “quintessential blogger: intense, passionate, consumed with his subject, opinionated, sleep-deprived, forward-thinking, easy to irritate and apt to air his grudges in public.”
—Radiohead: Edgar Bronfman, Jr., whose Warner Music Group (NYSE: WMG) wound up helping to sell In Rainbows through online stores, writes of the experiment: “Does that mean we view the future as a giant tip jar? Not exactly—and I suspect Radiohead doesn’t either, particularly in light of the commercial successIn Rainbows had after the “pay any price” offer ended.
—Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy, creators, Guitar Hero and Rock Band: Then again, Steven Van Zandt, suggests the music industry Chicken Littles call Alex and Eran: “Face it, folks. Rock Band is one of the ways kids will find music in the future, and the future is now.”
—Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook: Craig Newmark writes that Facebook became a social network that mattered “because Zuckerberg has remained true to his vision, focusing on building a community rather than a mere exit strategy—which is why those buyout offers have been decline.” But Newmark also warns: “investors are patient, but not forever.”
Posted In: Companies, Time Warner, Time Inc., time 100
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Comments (24)
Apr 30, 2008 5:23 PM
I personally do not find Arrington credible or a good writer. He also has very questionable ethics.
Apr 30, 2008 6:55 PM
But they’ve made an impact in the society (IT) - That must be more valuable.
Apr 30, 2008 6:59 PM
Jay Adelson’s inclusion is interesting. Digg might just be another passing fad. Jay’s work at Equinix, however, created the gold standard of datacenter design, which has had a huge impact in both the telecom sectors, and on the commercial datacenter market. Far more interesting than yet another social news site.
Apr 30, 2008 7:00 PM
wow @jenkins that sounds like a little web hating. lol the man is about to hit 1 million on Feedburner. He must be doing something right. All Due Credit to the other writers on techcrunch.
Apr 30, 2008 7:01 PM
Evan Williams, Biz Stone, Matt Mullenweg, Rasmus Lerdorf, Robert Scoble, Tim O’Reilly, Veronica Belmont, Leo Laporte, Jimmy Wales, Jason Calacanis, Guido van Rossum
Apr 30, 2008 7:03 PM
That’s why Ballmer etc are there - It’s not whether you play nice, its the impact you had.
Nothing to do wit the above comment, but a Y chromosone candidate would have been Google’s Melissa Mayer
Apr 30, 2008 7:04 PM
Amazing how often the Wild West repeats itself. It used to be every 100 years, now a new Wild West is becoming an annual event. And it’s reflected in many of the winners.
More interestingly is how you broke the story before it was officially released?
Apr 30, 2008 7:04 PM
There must be a mistake as I don’t see my name on the list… hehe
Apr 30, 2008 7:07 PM
Michael Arrington has been responsible for helping so many start-ups it’s not even funny If this is the age of Web 2.0 and Internet Revolution, then Michael Arrington should be on the cover, if not at least the cover of a section on Bloggers. He is “Passion Meets Web 2.0”.
Apr 30, 2008 7:10 PM
@Jenkins I couldnt agree more, it more like Michael Arrogant….
Apr 30, 2008 7:23 PM
“the Allen Institute for Brian Science”
I know my buddy Brian certainly appreciates all the good work they do to advance study of the Brian.
Apr 30, 2008 7:34 PM
Having been in this industry for a very long time I’m constantly calling BS on much of what Arrington says. He’s NOT helping start-ups, he’s helping himself. Give me a break!
Apr 30, 2008 7:41 PM
@Jenkins - While Michael Arrington does generate hype, it also feels very blown out of proportion. I find him more obnoxious than informative.
Apr 30, 2008 7:47 PM
> Who’s missing? To start, anyone missing a Y chromosome; we’re
> now accepting nominations in the comments.
When making nominations, should people include a token female even if they don’t really think they should be on the list? There aren’t any black people in the list either, you know.
That said, there are certainly women who would rank higher than a few of those names in my book, but I don’t consider someone’s sex, race or other physical attributes when judging their achievements.. although clearly some do.
Apr 30, 2008 9:49 PM
Umm…small correction…in XY sex determination, females have two of the same kind of chromosome (XX) whereas men have two distinct sex chromosomes (XY)...
The opening has successfully distracted me from making any comments about the focus of the article. Perhaps if a women (with XX chromosomes) wrote this, it would be factually correct?
Apr 30, 2008 9:53 PM
Umm nevermind…I see this was originally written by a womAn. Woops.
May 1, 2008 12:01 AM
thanks for stepping up there, tloh
after all…. Sandra Lerner was the co-founder of Cisco Systems, Inc and look who else we have representing us..
Flickr (Caterina Fake), Blogger (Meg Hourihan), SixApart (Mena Trott), Mozilla (Mitchell Baker), Guidewire Group (Chris Shipley), and Adaptive Path (Janice Fraser)
Will some things ever change?
May 1, 2008 12:03 AM
So what has Ballmer done to get on this list besides make a total fool of him self at every public appearance? If Jobs doesn’t get it then these things are rigged. Seriously.
May 1, 2008 12:47 AM
I caught a typo - “Whether you like the company or not, give credit where credit is due: Steve Ballmer kicks ass.” Should read - “Whether you like the company or not, give credit where credit is due: Steve Ballmer licks ass.” or perhaps it should read - “Whether you like the company or not, give credit where credit is due: Steve Ballmer sucks ass.” or even - “Whether you like the company or not, give credit where credit is due: Steve Ballmer is an ass.”
May 1, 2008 10:08 AM
Arrington rocks. period. Techcrunch is like cocaine for techies.
May 1, 2008 12:26 PM
Um. Due disclosure: I work for Time. But Mary Lou Jepsen is on the list. Why doesn’t she count as an XX techie?
May 3, 2008 5:15 PM
That’s strange… I didn’t make the list.
It was only a couple of years ago when I was Time’s Person of the Year.
Jun 2, 2008 12:22 PM
Steve Jobs the iGod deserves to be there but Steve Ballmer and the others dont
May 31, 2009 1:11 PM
This list seems to be totally dominated by the same stereotypical white males every year. Sure, they deserve to be there, but isn’t it an interesting phenomenon to point out that no women or other ethnicities made the list? Seems like perfect fodder for feminists and civil rights unions.