The Inventor of the GIF, the Pronunciation of Which Was Always Hotly Debated, Has Died From Covid – IOTW Report

The Inventor of the GIF, the Pronunciation of Which Was Always Hotly Debated, Has Died From Covid

NYP-

Steve Wilhite, the computer scientist who created the popular GIF file format in 1987, died in intensive care last Monday from complications of COVID-19, a report said.

He was 74.

Wilhite contracted the virus just two weeks before his death and was hospitalized near their home in Milford, Ohio, his wife, Kathaleen Wilhite, told NPR.

“It came on suddenly. He woke up one morning and he said, ‘Honey, I don’t feel good. I don’t feel good at all,’” Kathaleen recalled.

“And he was running a fever, throwing up so badly. And then the next day he started coughing badly,” she told the publication.

Kathaleen said she was at home when she got a call from the hospital last Monday telling her she needed to get there. Shortly after she arrived, her husband died.

“It’s just so bad. It’s just so tragic,” she told NPR.

In recent years, GIFs enjoyed a renaissance as they were adopted by modern social media and texting platforms.

Despite their wide usage, most people mispronounce the format.

In 2013 Wilhite clarified that there was no hard “G” sound in the word, and said it should be pronounced “jif,” like the peanut butter brand, in an interview with the New York Times.

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26 Comments on The Inventor of the GIF, the Pronunciation of Which Was Always Hotly Debated, Has Died From Covid

  1. What the heck Loco, don’t you like my avatar? You know what I would like, is if iOTW could get a few hundred random avatars and you would get a new one with every new comment.

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  2. Joe6, why don’t you create something that produces a random avatar every time?
    Call it the Randatar.
    Then we can morn you when you pass.

    BTW, what is the most famous and used gif?
    I’m guessing the cool dude who pops open the folding outdoor chair as in “I’m here for this.”
    Or the popcorn guy?

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  3. It was a true jift when he gave us the gif. Jifting us with something that sustains our memes and jiving us hope for the future.
    Or, we can pronounce it with a hard G, like God intended.

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  4. Anyone pronounce geoff’s name with a hard g?

    Or Gerald’s?

    I didn’t think so.

    If he says it’s soft, then it’s soft. Really isn’t that difficult.

    A lot of people mispronounce my name every day and I don’t bother trying to correct them saying something like: “IT’S DAD OF 4 – NOT A***HOLE!”

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  5. That’s why I say we have no hope for change except by force. This country has been taken over by corrupt politicians for over 45 years. Everyone one that in government from the past 45 years has baggage. They all need to be put on trial and investigated.i do home work ….. 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤.𝐜𝐨𝐦

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