The Art of Influence

So Tim Russert died this weekend. My condolences to the family (since I know they read this blog). I heard that Mr. Russert was among the Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people. So, I checked out this list and it is nice and all, but doesn’t really hit the common man. Now, I am sure he has done quite a bit as have the rest of those on the list, but again, just didn’t ring true to me. So, the following is a list of 5 influential people in my life, in no particular order. You are encouraged to add your own so we can come up with a top 10 or 25 list.

Sergey Brin & Larry Page, co-founders of Google
Google has gone from new and cool website search engine to integral part of the online experience. From Search, to maps, to documents, to email, to more things than I have time to mess with, Google rules the internet. I don’t have the statistics, but I would say that a pretty high percentage of people who go online use some sort of product from the google guys.

Sam Walton, Founder of WalMart
Need a widget? How about a whatcha-ma-whoser? Wal-Mart probably has it and at a price that cannot be beat, even online. Walton went with the model that if you buy a ton of something, even if you only mark it up slightly, the amount you make off a ton far exceeds the large markup you make on selling fewer. And he was right. Walmart continues to swallow up the Mom and Pap shops and is quickly becoming a monopoly that will render useless any other merchandise store. Say what you want against them, they have what you need (everything) when you need it (open 24 hours) at a price that you can afford.

Bill Gates, Software Developer
Microsoft bashing has been in vogue for the last 5 years or so, especially with the rise of the Mac Revolution. Anyone who has used a Windows based machine knows of its many flaws. But let’s be honest – almost all of us grew up and cut our computer teeth on Windows – whether it be 3.1, 98 or ME. And regardless if you switch to Mac or Linux, there will always be a place in your heart for those MS-DOS based programs, for the starfield screensaver, for the flying windows logo, and for the Office based programs. Sure there is plenty wrong with Windows – but 99% of the world still uses it.

Raymond Albert Kroc
You may not recognize his name, but you recognize the golden arches of McDonalds. Kroc was astounded when he saw a restaurant that had 5 milk shake mixers so it didn’t take 3 hours to serve the teens after a football game and was enthralled with the idea of quicker service. So he had a dream of serving as many people as quickly as he could. And this dream became a reality in the McDonalds Restaurants. His model has been copied, modified and tweaked allowing for “good food quickly” to be found on just about every street in the modernized world. Even if you don’t like the McDonalds products (though who couldn’t like the Egg McMuffin is beyond me), you like the convenience of getting some great artery clogging food at all hours of the night or morning or whenever you want.

Steven J. Sasson
Again, you might not recognize the name, but you probably use his product every week. Taken from Wikipedia: Sasson is an electrical engineer and the inventor of the digital camera. His invention began in 1975 with a very broad assignment from his supervisor at Eastman Kodak Company, Gareth A. Lloyd: Could a camera be built using solid state electronics, solid state imagers, an electronic sensor known as a charge coupled device (CCD) that gathers optical information.

Before the digital camera, photography and capturing those precious moments was left to professionals and moms who couldn’t keep their hands steady enough to get a good picture. With the arrival of children I appreciate this invention even more


Well, that's the list. Not comprehensive, but I don't have a bunch of time either. So add your most influential people or add your scathing criticism of my list.