7th October 2011, 2:36 PM
I'm hardly "revering" him. I agree that the lionizing goes too far with claims he "invented" the MP3 player or the mouse or the GUI. However, he is one of the big heavies who helped push computers to where they are now. He did contribute more than just marketing.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)