It is time for May Madness. OK, there might not be as much fanfare as the college basketball version of the brackets, but think of this as a second chance at redemption after all those red marks littered your NCAA picks this past March.
Best Microsoft MCTS Training, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com
The Network World staff has selected 32 of the top innovative minds in the technology industry in the past 25 years. It is now up to you, the reader, to determine who moves onto the next round. There will be a daily poll pitting industry execs and the brackets will be updated each day.
So what segment of the tech industry will come out on top? Will the young pups of social media like Mark Zuckerberg or Twitter’s Biz Stone come in and steal the thunder from stalwarts like Bill Gates or IBM’s Lou Gerstner? Who believes that software is the main innovation in the tech industry or is it hardware. There could be some interesting matchups down the road with someone like Joe Tucci of EMC going against Oracle’s Larry Ellison. How will open source hold up?
Brackets of tech industry’s most innovative person
Click to see: Brackets of tech industry’s most innovative person
Reconnect with your inner Dick Vitale and make some predictions below in our comment section. Am I allowed to call Zuckerberg a “Diaper Dandy,” as the boisterous ESPN announcer would say? Or is Steve Jobs a PTPer? (Prime Time Player for those of you not up on your Vitale speak.)
Make your voice heard each day and vote in our poll below. Let the games begin.
TODAY’S MATCHUP: Paul Otellini vs. Lou Gerstner
Both Paul Otellini and Lou Gerstner took down the young, up and comers in the first round. In this social networking world, apparently word did not get out to the hoards of friends on Facebook and Twitter followers as Biz Stone and Mark Zuckerberg were taken down by the old guard. How will Intel stack up against IBM in this next round of innovators?
Who is the most innovative tech exec in the past 25 years?
ROUND 2, MATCH 7: It appears the votes felt Steve Jobs was the brains behind the Apple corporation as seen with its resurgence since he returned from exile. Jobs was ousted in 1985, only to return in 1996 and in so doing taking the company to new heights with the advent of the iPod, iPad and iPhone. They met in 1971, when their mutual friend, Bill Fernandez, introduced 21-year-old Wozniak to 16-year-old Jobs. Jobs managed to interest Wozniak in assembling a machine and selling it. Wozniak left Apple once he determined that he wanted to create technology on his own more than in an organized structure of a corporation.
ROUND 2, MATCH 6: Scott McNealy extracted his revenge, in resounding fashion with 85% of the vote against former boss Larry Ellison. This is one of two really intriguing matchups in the second round. McNealy goes along his way as the head of Sun for many years. Pretty much on top of the world for his niche market until one day Oracle and Larry Ellison swoop in and buy Sun. At that point McNealy’s life changed, he became a small fish in a big pond. It didn’t take long for Ellison’s persona to overshadow McNealy, leading to him leaving the joined company.
