On 14 March 2022, the world suffered a tragic loss with the sad passing of Steve Wilhite due to COVID complications. He was a great person who was known as the father of Graphics Interchange Format or GIF. We are making this video to tell you a bit more about Steve and his story of bringing GIFs to life.

In the 1980s, Steve and his team faced a problem: How to make computers show coloured images without consuming too much memory? Lived in an age when the Internet was not even a thing, computer users had to subscribe to a networking service called CompuServe to connect computers together and send information to each other. Steve Wilhite found a way.

He utilized a compression algorithm called LZW to compress image files. The new format enabled computers to display images using 256 colors with outstanding clarity quickly. Here is the very first GIF picture that is ever created https://bit.ly/3JcFE0g.

In 1995, the technology giant NetScape Labs Infotech Pvt LTD released its new Internet browser Netscape Navigator 2.0, allowing users to download, view, and transfer GIFs embedded on a web page.

Developers began to use GIFs to decorate their websites, and the GIF format laid the foundation for Web 1.0, which I believe is still in many people’s memories today. The GIF culture took off during the 2000s with the emergence of new social websites like Tumblr, Twitter, and Reddit.

Internet users utilized GIFs to spread information and disseminate the latest news. We are sorry to see the passing of Steve, and just as what is said in his obituary: Even with all his accomplishments, he remained a very humble, kind, and good man. He will be sorely missed.

I hope this was helpful.

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Steve Wilhite Father Of GIF

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