Techies Who Changed The World

Steve Jobs, Apple – Maverick entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs is the current grandmaster of technology. Business savvy and a risk taker, Jobs is the visionary who redefined technology with world changing products like the Personal Computer, iPod, iPhone and iPad.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook – Whizkid Zuckerberg almost single handedly transformed the Internet from a place people went to get information to a place they went to meet each other. Facebook gave the virtual world a patina of humanity, the real world a new medium of interpersonal relationships, and made Zuckerberg not only this generation's phenomenon, but also the second youngest billionaire in the world. Interesting fact: The youngest billionaire is Dustin Moskovitz – co-founder of Facebook and 8 days younger than Zuckerberg, his Harvard roommate

Bill Gates, Microsoft – The Microsoft founder has passed the legion of supergeeks into the pantheon of technological demi-gods. The richest man in the world from 1995 to 2007 is currently the second richest. He holds 8 percent of Microsoft stock and now functions as the non-executive chairman of the company. Over the years, Gates and wife Melinda have made philanthropy their primary concern and recently pledged to give away at least half their fortune to charity with time.

Linus Torvalds, Linux – This Finnish engineer is virtually unknown outside the inner circles of technology, yet he is among the most influential figures in software development. A believer in open source software, Torvalds initiated thedevelopment of the Linux Kernel. He now acts as the coordinator of the project. The Linux operating system runs the 10 fastest supercomputers in the world and a diverse range of hardware including the smallest of devices. A modified version of the Linux kernel powers the ubiqitous Android OS

Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google – Co-founders of internet behemoth Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin ran Google from a rented garage in 1998. Twelve years later, Google has left it's Silicon Valley startup past way behind to become the world's largest media corporation.

Evan Williams, Twitter & Blogger – Virtually unknown in the real world, this college drop-out created two key communication technologies that shaped the Internet – Blogger and Twitter. He no longer works at Twitter but he's left an indelible handprint on the cyberworld.

Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendo – Even if you've never played a video game, chances are you've heard of Super Mario Bros. Shigeru Miyamoto is the Japanese game designer behind popular Nintendo titles like Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong, Star Fox, and the grand old man of gaming, Mario.

Jeffrey Bezos, Amazon – In 1994, this Princeton graduate started Amazon.com from his garage in Seattle and changed the face of online retail forever. He began with selling books online but soon diversified into, well, almost everything. Amazon made him a billionaire as well as Time magazine's person of the year in 1999.
Tim Berners-Lee, the World Wide Web – 20 years ago British physicist and computer scientist Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web, the first web browser and the first web server. This man is the reason we can access webpages and surf the Internet using browsers today.

Akio Morita, Sony – Former naval officer Akio Morita left his family business of sake, miso and soy sauce to co-found Sony Corporation in 1946. Most of Sony's path-breaking products like magnetic tapes, tape recorders, pocket-sized radios, the Walkman and the Discman were developed under his leadership.

Woz – The other Steve who founded Apple with Steve Jobs was Steve Wozniak. Affectionately called Woz, he has been credited with developing the Apple I and Apple II computers in the 1970s. He no longer works full time with Apple, but is still a shareholder and employee of the company.