The Web's 10 Most Influential People

Who are they?

[lazerzubb]

Chris_R made me look up a old list presented of the [URL=http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/story/story_2557.html]The Web's 10 Most Influential People[/URL]

Went through it, and though man that was out of date, so it would be fun to get a updated list, so who would you say are the Web's 10 Most Influential/powerful People today?

[korkus2000]

These people should be in there

Jakob Nielsen
Larry Page
Sergey Brin
Bill Gates

Are we sure it should not be forces though like google, open source, microsoft.

[Shak]

my 2 pence worth, these 3 people should be in there (in no particular order):

Omid Kordestani
Ted Meisel
Meg Whitman

Shak

[Chris_R]

I consider myself fairly savvy, but I couldn't have told you who half of those people were....

[Chicago]

Brett Tabke
Google Guy

Ok, so I am a little bias.

[ritualcoffee]

In 1998 you could name the "Internet" big whigs.

Now? You would need to pinpoint what are of the net to focus on. I mean back then I was a "webmaster" - now, ask anyone what that title means!

[atadams]

Jakob Nielsen should be in there only if we aren't qualifying whether the influence these people have is good or bad.

And I'll add Jeff Bezos (positive influence)

[ggrot]

Linus Torvalds?

Ggrot for sure.

[EliteWeb]

Gates can't be there he shot himself in his foot years ago in that book while talken p00p bout the net ;)

Id say the person(s) who setup blog software made an impact on the net.

[lazerzubb]

In no special order (Could only come up with 6 good ones):

Bill Gates:
(Microsoft)
People can say whatever they want, but one thing is for sure, When MR. Gates speak, people listen and takes notes, and i bet that there is no time when so many new companies are started, or change direction as when Bill says something new will be the next big "thing" on the internet, even though he doesn't seem to make many statements regarding the internet, once he does, it has effects.

Meg Whitman:
(Ebay)
To be honest, i think the most powerful thing she decides over is PayPal, not saying Ebay is worthless, but PayPal has so much to do with "other things" than Ebay.

Dick Parsons:
(AOL)
CEO and Chairman of Aol Time Warner, mostly there because the position he has.
If he does something bad/good, it affects so many "internet" people.

Terry Semel:
(Yahoo)
Take a look at the Alexa Top 10, and you see Yahoo twice.
Yahoo is a "everyday" for most internet users.

Jorma Ollila:
(Nokia)

THE WIRELESS WONDER ~Time Digital top 50

I think that says a lot.
With over 40% of all mobile phones being used is branded Nokia, and with over 152 million units shipped during 2002, imagine the impact it will have when they all access the internet all the time, how is the internet going to adapt?

Tim Berners-Lee:
(World Wide Web Consortium)
Said to be the creator of the "Internet" also Director at W3c, who in a sense creates tomorrows internet.

[cfx211]

I have to say that I like the internet much better now that the superstar CEO era is over. A most over-hyped people list would probably be a lot more enjoyable now than a most influential list.

Keeping in that vein of things I would say all of the groups/people behind LAMP (linux, apache, mysql, perl/php/python) are the most influential people on the web right now.

[edit_g]

You're forgetting Zeldman. He is to CSS what Hendrix was to the guitar.

[chris_f]

My List (in order):

Bill Gates - Still has control whether we like it or not
Tim Berners-Lee - Without knowledge of web standards the internet wouldn't be where it is
Meg Whitman (for PayPal not Ebay) - Soooo much influence over all forms of online transactions
Larry Page or Sergey Brin
Sergey Brin or Larry Page
Terry Semel
Whoever kicked off linux
Jakob Nielsen (sadly)
Dick Parsons (Although deminising)
Me ;)

ATOB
Chris

<added>What about BT? Without them we wouldn't have hyperlinks ;) ... ROFLMAO</added>

[BlobFisk]

Steve Jobs.

The stuff that Apple are beginning to get into (iTunes etc.) is top notch and he certainly deserves a place IMHO.

[Brett_Tabke]

1: Eric Schmidt. Clearly running the show at the Gplex. Larry and sergey who? :)
2: Gates. The Microsoft bear is starting to growl.
3: Case. Could change the scope and direction of the net forever in one word: Mozilla.
4: Semel. They've made all the right moves. They've gotten great biz advice.
5: John Doerr. Mouth of the vc world.
6: Neilsen. Maybe a bit high, but alot of people listen.
7: Kennard (fcc). The fcc is yet to get into the game in any meaningful fashion.
8: Meg Whitman. Agreed on PayPal - it could be the new credit system of the future. It is doubtful mc and visa will allow that though.
9: Jobs. I don't know why. Hardware is his forte - obviously not the internet.
10: Danny Sullivan (Google owes him everything. Google would be just another Northern Light without the launch from DS. They never would have gotten the credibility and consequently the vc money).

[lukasz]

When MR. Gates speak, people listen and takes notes, and i bet that there is no time when so many new companies are started, or change direction as when Bill says something new will be the next big "thing"

Can anyone give me some specific quotes.
I can not remember when he said something about the net, that ever become a next "big thing".
He hasnt noticed internet untill it was well developed.
The whole microsoft idea of hardware and software rich desktop is somehow contrary to the idea of networking.
My favourite Big Thing by B.Gates:
In 1999 he said that internet will be so poplular that every hotel and airport will have "docking stations" so we could plugin our computer and check our mail. (business at speed of thought). "docking station" - what is that?