Stephen Wilhite, who is considered the father of GIFs that we share dozens of times every day on social media, died due to symptoms related to Covid-19.
Stephen Wilhite, father of GIFs, died at the age of 74 due to symptoms related to Covid 19. will you die vergeAnnounced by , Stephen had invented the GIF format, which has now become a part of our social media stream, at the technology company he worked for in the 1980s. A few years ago, Stephen noted that the correct pronunciation for GIF is “jif”, not “gif”.
Father of GIFs Stephen Wilhite received a 2013 lifetime achievement award
The invention of Stephen, who worked at the technology company CompuServe in the 80s, the early days of the Internet, was one of Stephen Wilhite’s most proud achievements, according to his wife Kathaleen. Wilhite left the firm in 2001 and retired indefinitely, devoting the rest of his life to his family and hobbies.
GIFs, which were a practical way of sharing animated images in the early days of the Internet, have now become an indispensable part of social media conversations. The invention of GIF, which is very popular due to its huge archives on various websites and its easy use, won Wilhite the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Webby Awards in 2013.
It seems that concepts such as GIF, Metaverse and Web 3.0, which Willhite invented in 1980, will continue to be used in the coming years, when they will become widespread.