The creator of the GIF, Stephen Wilhite, has passed away

The creator of the GIF image format, Stephen Wilhite, has passed away at the age of 74.

Speaking to The Verge, his wife explained that Wilhite passed away due to COVID, but she added that he was surrounded by his family when he died.

The GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) wasn’t actually created for the thing it’s mostly used for in the modern era. Instead of internet memes, Wilhite invented the format as a solo project to create high quality visuals in colour, back when the internet speeds weren’t conducive to sending enormous files.

His wife, Kathaleen, told The Verge, “He invented GIF all by himself — he actually did that at home and brought it into work after he perfected it. He would figure out everything privately in his head and then go to town programming it on the computer.” This all happened while he was working at CompuServe, which introduced the GIF in the late 80s.

There had been a long-running discussion about how to pronounce “GIF” but Wilhite himself cleared things up in 2013, when he revealed to The New York Times that it’s pronounced with a “J”, not a “G”. In other words it’s “JIF”, not “GIF”. In that interview he also revealed his one of his favourite GIFs is the dancing baby meme.

In the same year he received a Webby lifetime achievement award for creating the GIF, and he again confirmed the correct pronunciation of the format. Wilhite’s wife told The Verge that creating the GIF was the thing he was the most proud of.

Wilhite’s obituary page is littered with people talking about how he changed the way we converse today. One mourner said “Without GIFs a whole world to express myself would not have existed. Thank you for your beautiful idea.”

Another added “Thank you, Mr. Wilhite, for being a pioneer in technology. I’m just one of millions who have so greatly benefited from your work in school, business, and personal life.”