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About the Author Nicholas Negroponte
Nicholas Negroponte (born 1943) is an architect and computer scientist best known as the founder and Chairman Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, and also known as the founder of The One Laptop per Child association (OLPC).
Negroponte, son of Dimitri John, a Greek shipping magnate, grew up in New York City's Upper East Side. He is the younger brother of John Negroponte, current United States Deputy Secretary of State.
He attended many schools, including Buckley (NYC), Le Rosey (Switzerland) and Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut where he graduated in 1961. Subsequently, he studied at MIT as both an undergraduate and graduate student in Architecture where his research focused on issues of computer-aided design. He earned a Master's degree in Architecture from MIT in 1966 and joined the faculty of MIT in 1966.
In 1967, Negroponte founded MIT's Architecture Machine Group, a combination lab and think tank which studied new approaches to human-computer interface. In 1985, Negroponte created the MIT Media Lab with Jerome B. Wiesner. As director, he developed the lab into the pre-eminent computer science laboratory for new media and a high-tech playground for investigating the human-computer interface.
In 1992, Negroponte became involved in the creation of Wired Magazine as the first investor. From 1993 to 1998, he contributed a monthly column to the magazine in which he reiterated a basic theme: "Move bits, not atoms."
Negroponte expanded many of the ideas from his Wired columns into a bestselling book Being Digital (1995), which made famous his forecasts on how the interactive world, the entertainment world and the information world eventually merge.
In 2000, Negroponte stepped down as director of the Media Lab as Walter Bender took over as Executive Director. However, Negroponte retained the role of laboratory Chairman.
In November 2005, at the World Summit on the Information Society held in Tunis, Negroponte unveiled a $100 laptop computer, The Children's Machine, designed for students in the developing world. The project is part of a broader program by One Laptop Per Child, a non-profit organisation started by Negroponte and other Media Lab faculty, to extend Internet access in developing countries.
Negroponte sits on several boards including Motorola (listed on the New York Stock Exchange), Velti (listed on the London Stock Exchange) and privately-held Ambient Devices. He has invested in over 30 startup companies over the last 30 years, including Zagats, Wired, Ambient Devices, Skype and Velti.
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About the Author C S Lewis
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 189822 November 1963), commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis, was an Irish author and scholar, of mixed Irish, English, and Welsh ancestry. An Ulsterman, he was born into a Church of Ireland family in Belfast, but he was resident in England throughout his adult life. Lewis is known for his work on medieval literature, for his Christian apologetics and for his fiction, especially the childrens series entitled The Chronicles of Narnia and his science fiction Space Trilogy. He was also a leading figure in an Oxford literary group called the Inklings.
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