Jobs: 2nd in IT influence

Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs is the second-most influential IT personality of the past quarter-century, a new poll suggests. The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) says it has conducted a survey on the question using 473 professionals from the IT industry, and among that group, 73 percent incorporated Jobs into their lists. He was surpassed only by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, who was picked by 84 percent of respondents. Coming in third was Dell CEO Michael Dell, with 53 percent, while Linux originator Linus Torvalds shared the 47 percent mark with Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page.

Jobs has received several accolades in 2007, among them a place in the California Hall of Fame, and the number three position in a ranking of business leaders by USA Today. He has also been taken to task, however, for everything from disappointing Apple TV sales to suspected involvement in a stock backdating scandal. He has received particularly harsh criticism for the rapid drop of the iPhone's price, which has even triggered legal action.

by MacNN Staff