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Stephen Wilhite, 1948-2022

Where would the early web have been without the GIF graphics format? Certainly a lot less animated, and a bit less controversial, that's for sure.

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According to Wilhite, as reported by Engadget, it's pronounced "JIF" with a soft "G".

I'm not sure if you realized the bigger implications of the GIF format when you created it for CompuServe. Nevertheless, thank you, Stephen, for your contribution to Internet history.

And to anyone that chooses to disagree with Wilhite's official pronunciation:

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At least for today...