GIF inventor dies of Covid-19 complications, Twitter responds with torrent of GIF tributes

GIF creator Steve Wilhite has died aged 74 after contracting Covid-19, NPR reports. According to his wife Kathaleen Wilhite, her husband contracted the virus on March 1 and was subsequently hospitalized, dying on March 14.
Wilhite’s wife told NPR that her husband had a lifelong passion for tinkering with his designs and computer programming, which continued in the weeks leading up to his diagnosis. It was in 1987 when Wilhite developed the “Graphics Interchange Format” (GIF) while working at CompuServe. In a rare interview via Facebook in 2012, he told the Daily Dot, “I think the first GIF was an airplane photo. It was a long time ago.”
The GIF is 30 years old today. Here is the very first gif (pronounced (jif) #gif #firstgif #happybirthdaygif pic.twitter.com/MxxbuFO34A
— Doug McKenzie (@dougmckenzie) June 15, 2017
GIF was revolutionary in its day, when internet speeds were much slower than they are today. The technology’s compressed format allowed more efficient transfer of images, and an animation feature was added to an updated version. When AOL bought CompuServe in 1998 and let the GIF patent expire, GIFs proliferated in every corner of the Internet – on MySpace pages in the 2000s and Tumblr sites in the 2010s – becoming ubiquitous enough that its even pronunciation is the subject of heated debate, although Wilhite himself has confirmed that it is pronounced “JIF” with a soft “G”.
Wilhite received a lifetime achievement award at the Webby Awards in 2013, and today GIFs continue to play an important role in digital culture.
Related: How do you pronounce GIF? It depends on where you live.
Jason Reed, the Daily Dot’s art director, told NPR via messaging service Signal, “Without the .gif, the internet as we know it would be a different place. It’s a narrow medium that you can learn from. a lot about storytelling, especially tailored to the attention span of the internet.”
In response to Wilhite’s passing, Twitter users flooded the platform with GIF tributes to the man who started it all.
Users graced Wilhite with massive GIF compilations.
The only way to honor the passing of the man who invented the GIF.https://t.co/81U4Q4t91M#StephenWilhite pic.twitter.com/QRQt48gBYY
—Dan Linden (@DanLinden) March 24, 2022
Others pointed to the exact pronunciation of “GIF”, citing Wilhite’s Webby acceptance speech.
Rest in Peace Stephen Wilhite
GIF creator…
Thank you #StephenWilhite without you #Twitter would be boring! pic.twitter.com/7RCZAb2TOS— Anjee W (@Anjeew) March 24, 2022
Although others continued to stir the pot.
Lost a legend and a creator. #StephenWilhite pic.twitter.com/q7LdooWGrY
— Nicholas Smith (@realnickelass) March 24, 2022
Some users have gotten particularly creative with artistic renditions of the beloved programmer.
Rest in peace to an incredible innovator in the web space! #StephenWilhite https://t.co/NQpLjSz12g pic.twitter.com/DJC18v0e0v
— VINCE VAN (@VinceJVan) March 23, 2022
While others make dazzling montages.
I use his awesome invention everyday, we all do!!!
Thank you sir!!! for what you left for US !!#StephenWilhite #rest in paradise pic.twitter.com/p5DwClSGTM
— Dr. Satoshi (@wedissectstuffs) March 24, 2022
Some admitted that it took Wilhite’s passing to put a name to the inventor behind the technology that had changed so many lives.
I learn today of the death of the inventor of the Graphic Interchange Format, better known under the name of #gif (pronounced soft “G”).
It took his death for me to learn his name. That’s a shame.
Thank you #StephenWilhite to make our difficult lives less painful and more entertaining. #TEAR pic.twitter.com/QLeg7HWYc2
—David Navarro (@12SDN91) March 24, 2022
And still others called on users to post their favorite GIFs in honor of the creator.
#StephenWilhitethe inventor of #gif is dead.
In honor, post your favorite gif! https://t.co/nhK5DnHyzy pic.twitter.com/RwlWnyaB51—Mike Kakuk (@radiomike519) March 23, 2022
Copyright 2022 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All Rights Reserved
This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com