Published February 18th, 2008
in Technology.
A panel of experts, which included Clive Holtham of Cass Business School, has named Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web in 1989, the most influential figure in technology over the last 150 years. The nominees were given marks across the following five categories: innovation; ground-breaking technology; industry success; impact on society and influence.
Here are the 10 most influential people in technology:
- Tim Berners-Lee: Founder of the modern World Wide Web
- Sergey Brin: Co-founder of Google
- Larry Page: Co-founder of Google
- Guglielmo Marconi: Inventor of the Radiotelegraph system
- Jack Kilby: Inventor of the Integrated Circuit and Calculator
- Gordon Moore: Co-founder of Intel
- Alan Turing: Played a major role in deciphering German Code in the 2nd World War
- Robert Noyce: Co-founder of Intel
- William Shockley: Co-inventor of the Transistor
- Don Estridge: Led the development of the IBM computer
The complete list, which was sponsored by Intel, can be found here.
Published February 1st, 2008
in Web 2.0, Media and Internet and Business.
There has been a lot of speculation in the media during the last year about Internet’s latest phenomena Facebook and its profitability. An article by the Economist published in October 2007 suggested that Facebook might generate revenues of some $100m this year. Microsoft later paid $240m for 1.6% of the company – which valued the company to as much as $15bn – an amount many experts think is mad.
It now looks like the finances of the private-held company finally have been leaked onto the Net. Kara Swisher at AllThingsD.com, part of the Wall-Street Journal, has published the following financial metrics – which she claims comes from a meeting held by Facebook’s CEO and founder, Mark Zuckerberg, yesterday:
- 2007 Revenues: $150 million
- 2008 Revenues: $300 to $350 million (projected)
- 2007 Headcount: 450
- 2008 Headcount: 1,000 (projected)
- Capital Expenditures: $200 million (i.e., servers)
- EBITDA*: $50 million
- 2008 Cash Flow (EBITDA - Capital Expenditures): negative 150 million
*EBITDA = Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization
Sounds like a fantastic investment opportunity – doesn’t it? But of course, the figures can change dramatically if Facebook would make a breakthrough in social network monetization – such as their very own version of Google Ads.
Read Karen’s article for more information.
