{"id":9176,"date":"2020-11-09T05:54:21","date_gmt":"2020-11-09T05:54:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vagoinformatique.com\/?p=9176"},"modified":"2020-11-09T05:54:23","modified_gmt":"2020-11-09T05:54:23","slug":"the-pioneers-40-years-later-what-have-they-become-philippe-kahn-borlands-genius","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vagoinformatique.com\/en\/2020\/11\/09\/the-pioneers-40-years-later-what-have-they-become-philippe-kahn-borlands-genius\/","title":{"rendered":"The pioneers. 40 years later. Where are they now? Philippe Kahn, Borland's Genius"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>By <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/christianvago.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Christian Vago<\/a><\/em><\/p><p><em>Header photo credit: Philippe Kahn, Fullpower\u00ae.<\/em> <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/fullpower.com\/\" target=\"_blank\"><em>https:\/\/fullpower.com\/<\/em><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Enormous! Going through the biographical notes of this breathtaking pioneer of modern computing, for the preparation of this article, brought me many laughs of admiration, and many exclamations!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Original article on <a href=\"https:\/\/tellhandel.blog\/les-pionniers-40-ans-plus-tard-que-sont-ils-devenus-philippe-kahn-le-genie-de-borland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/tellhandel.blog\/les-pionniers-40-ans-plus-tard-que-sont-ils-devenus-philippe-kahn-le-genie-de-borland\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube aligncenter wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio wp-embed-aspect-16-9\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Philippe Kahn, Borland&#039;s genius\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YwA18YF76es?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>For those of you who don't like reading, here's the story of this article on video. Enjoy!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Santa Cruz Tech Beat Journal describes the character as <em>\u00abone of the five figures to have had the greatest impact on the history of new technologies\u00bb.\u00bb<\/em>. (source : <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.santacruztechbeat.com\/2017\/08\/16\/philippe-kahn-named-one-mossbergs-five-influential-technologists\/\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/www.santacruztechbeat.com\/2017\/08\/16\/philippe-kahn-named-one-mossbergs-five-influential-technologists\/<\/a> )<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Philippe Kahn's saga is an extraordinary adventure. I had to integrate this article into no less than 12 categories and 44 keywords to do it justice. An editorial record. And I could have put more! You're about to find out why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It all began in 1952. Or earlier. Because it's a <em>destiny<\/em> Philippe was born on the Sunday of March 16, 1952, in Paris, France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/tellhandel.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/philippe-kahn-borland.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2235\"\/><figcaption>The Borland Era<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>His parents were Jewish immigrants of modest means. Philippe's mother was a survivor of the Nazi camp at Auschwitz, a violinist and a colonel in the French Resistance army. No doubt she was the one who instilled a taste for music in her son. Papa Kahn, on the other hand, is a self-taught engineer, an important hereditary detail if ever there was one, to understand the rest of the adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Philippe grew up in Paris. As a student, he made a stopover in Switzerland to study mathematics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, the benchmark university for future mathematicians and scientists. He obtained another Master's degree, again in mathematics, this time at the University of Nice. From student to teacher in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Departure for a Californian adventure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">In 1982 Philippe Kahn decided to leave France for the United States. He left with $2000 dollars in his pocket. All his savings. He settled in California, in Silicon Valley. Unable to find a job because he lacked the requisite legal status, he decided to found his own company with the aim of marketing software he had developed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Much like Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in the early days of Apple, Borland's first employees - who included a former Japanese restaurant manager, a cocktail waitress and the man who was the last Campbell's soup vendor in Mexico - didn't necessarily give the impression of a very serious company. Years later, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, they themselves described their business practices as follows <em>\u00abbarely on the right side of the law\u00bb<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But Kahn sees them as resourceful people. For example, when the company is short of cash to buy office equipment, it prints impressive letterhead and sends letters to equipment manufacturers, asking to receive copies of their products for evaluation in preparation for a possible large order. Manufacturers then send dozens of pieces of equipment and computer supplies to Borland. An unusual way to benefit from a loan without its name, until the company finds more conventional sources of financing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Philippe Kahn is 31 years old when Borland becomes an incorporated company. The year was 1983. The company will have an atypical career, climbing the corporate ladder from <em>high tech<\/em> to become the 3rd largest software company in the world, with nearly half a billion dollars worth of software sold, and 986 employees. Philippe Kahn was CEO until 1995, when he was probably forced to resign, an event not unlike a similar episode in the life of Steve Jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a terse statement, Philippe Kahn then remarks that he is <em>\u00abIt's clear that my position as CEO has become a distraction at a time when Borland most needs to focus on the future and the challenges that lie ahead. (...) The board and management have confidence in Gary Wetsel. <\/em>(his successor, Borland's Vice President Finance, editor's note)<em> to develop and implement a new restructuring plan\u00bb.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/tellhandel.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/corel-head-quarter-ottawa-canada-1024x786.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2230\"\/><figcaption>COREL headquarters in Ottawa, Canada<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Anthology of products that have shaped today's computing world<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Borland's first big success was probably his <em>Turbo Pascal<\/em>, created by Anders Hejlsberg, the man who would later develop the <em>.NET<\/em> and <em>C#<\/em> and the programming language <em>TypeScript<\/em>, a JavaScript created for Microsoft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Turbo Pascal is sold in Scandinavia under the name <em>Pascal Compass<\/em>. The year is 1983.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1984 saw the launch of <em>Borland Sidekick<\/em>, Sidekick, a suite of personal management tools including a calendar, text editor (with a WordStar-style command interface), calculator, ASCII graphic symbol integration, address book and telephone dialer. Although a text-based program, Sidekick's window-based interface echoes that of the Macintosh and anticipates the graphical appearance of Microsoft's Windows 2.0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the most popular office automation tools on the market were called <em>WordPerfect<\/em> for word processing, and <em>Lotus 1-2-3<\/em> for spreadsheets. The Office Suites, which grouped together various software programs into a single coherent package, did not yet exist (they would come later, towards the end of the 80s). At the time, the respective developers and owners of WP and Lotus 1-2-3 were Brigham Young University (Utah's Mormon Church) and Lotus Software.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With its exceptional spreadsheet <em>Quattro-Pro<\/em>, This led to a number of lawsuits, including a resounding one with Lotus, the Massachusetts company criticizing the Californian company for taking too much inspiration from its product. Too little too late, the Borland steamroller was launched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This season's epilogue <em>\u00abWord processing - Spreadsheet\u00bb<\/em>, Lotus 1-2-3 will eventually be taken over by IBM, and WordPerfect by Novell (which will close its doors in 2014) and then by Canadian software publisher Corel (the <em>Corel Draw<\/em>), which continues to market the product to this day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 1991, Borland acquired Ashton Tate, then the 3rd largest software publisher in the world. It was at this point that Philippe Kahn's company took its place in the <em>big three<\/em> in addition to having rights to the database management system <em>dBase<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Borland also offers a host of other software solutions that have had a lasting impact on an entire industry. Think, for example, of <em>Paradox, Delphi, Jbuilder, Interbase J2EE<\/em> and <em>AppServer<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The company will remain active 20 years after the departure of its co-founder in 1995. It closed its doors for good in 2015, more than three decades after its creation. The Canadian company Corel - still Corel - acquired Quattro Pro and renamed it <em>Corel Quattro Pro<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A boss far removed from the narcissistic entrepreneur<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">Under his leadership, Borland became the first software company to offer private customers all the benefits of a professional suite. Philippe Kahn is also a pioneer of gay rights in Silicon Valley. He was one of the keynote speakers at the gay rights conference held on Apple's campus on October 19, 1993.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those who had the opportunity to meet him can testify to his character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>Philippe Kahn belongs to this category of brilliant, modest and accessible people.<\/em>.<\/p><cite>Michel Massain, Sales Director for the Europe-Africa Region at CredoLab<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>A great man, a pioneer, a visionary with whom I started Borland's French subsidiary in 1985. I'm proud to have been part of this great human and technological adventure.<\/em>.<\/p><cite>Joel Poggiale, Executive Business Advisor IT &amp; Digital Markets<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>I had the opportunity and honor of working with Philippe, and it remains one of the most memorable professional and human experiences for me. An extraordinary person!<\/em><\/p><cite>S\u00e9bastien Tornassat, Vice President of Strategic Operations at Medtronic<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>I was lucky enough to work for Philippe. Not only was he kind to me, but he also showed enormous respect for the whole team. He took the time to meet and thank everyone on site. He's humble and a real gentleman.<\/em><\/p><cite>Darren Kelly, founder of CALNRG, San Rafael, California<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p><em>An incredibly gifted and generous man. He had a huge impact, not only on technology but also on people's lives.<\/em><\/p><cite>Andrew Van Valer, Chief Operating Officer, Esaiyo Inc., Santa Cruz, California<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Serial entrepreneur, husband and father<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">He's the inventor of instant sharing via the on-board cameras on our cell phones and tablets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, there are over 230 patents related to new technologies (in artificial intelligence, IoT, innovative motion detectors, wearable technologies, GPS positioning systems, telecommunications, telemedicine and sleep monitoring).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Philippe Kahn has four children. He is married to <strong>Sonia Lee<\/strong>, With her, he founded three companies: LightSurf, Starfish Software, a firm specializing in the design of mobile communication systems, and Fullpower Technologies, also co-founded with Arthur Kinsolving, himself a graduate of Yale University with a degree in science and mechanical engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Fullpower, MedTech company<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/fullpower.com\" target=\"_blank\">Fullpower<\/a>\u00ae is a complete platform for medical-grade algorithms powered by Artificial Intelligence, from contactless biosensing to end-to-end engineering services. The <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/fullpower.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/fullpower.com<\/a> is backed by a portfolio of over 125 patents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fullpower's main areas of expertise are therefore non-contact biosensing, remote monitoring and non-invasive PSG (or <em>polysomnography<\/em>, a type of multi-parameter sleep study used as a diagnostic tool in sleep medicine).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fullpower's markets include medical solutions, remote monitoring of vital signs, clinical trials and portable platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The adventure continues!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right\">Christian Vago<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-vimeo wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-vimeo wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"1997: Birth of the Camera Phone | Subconscious Films\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/221117048?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963\" width=\"900\" height=\"375\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>The story of history's first photo shared live on film<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/tellhandel.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/philippe-kahn-camera-phone.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2221\"\/><figcaption>Philippe Kahn in 1997 testing his camera for cell phones. Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Philippe_Kahn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Philippe_Kahn<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/tellhandel.blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/philippe-kahn-first-camera-phone-picture.gif\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2227\" width=\"479\" height=\"359\"\/><figcaption>The first photo in history to be shared live by cell phone. The date is June 17, 1997. Source: <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/view-from-the-valley\/consumer-electronics\/audiovideo\/happy-birthday-camera-phone-your-papa-is-very-proud-of-you\" target=\"_blank\">https:\/\/spectrum.ieee.org\/view-from-the-valley\/consumer-electronics\/audiovideo\/happy-birthday-camera-phone-your-papa-is-very-proud-of-you<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Walt Mossberg, Tech Journalist\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Hc3_ji7LHqk?start=274&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption>Technology journalist Walt Mossberg talks about Philippe Kahn<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Christian Vago Header photo credit: Philippe Kahn, Fullpower\u00ae https:\/\/fullpower.com\/ Huge! Going through the biographical notes of this breathtaking pioneer of modern computing, in preparation for this article, brought me many laughs of admiration, and many exclamations! Original article on https:\/\/tellhandel.blog\/les-pionniers-40-ans-plus-tard-que-sont-ils-devenus-philippe-kahn-le-genie-de-borland\/ The Santa Cruz Tech Beat Journal describes him as \u00abone of the...","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[106,6],"tags":[126,123,119,107,139,124,125,114,109,135,136,118,113,112,60,138,137,128,116,129,132,108,133,111,134,120,130,121,122,117,131,110,127,115],"class_list":["post-9176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-histoire-de-linformatique","category-techno","tag-net","tag-anders-hejlsberg","tag-apple","tag-borland","tag-brevets","tag-c","tag-c-2","tag-corel","tag-delphi","tag-en-direct","tag-en-ligne","tag-france","tag-fullpower","tag-histoire","tag-informatique","tag-inventeur","tag-inventions","tag-javascript","tag-lotus","tag-microsoft","tag-partage","tag-philippe-kahn","tag-photo","tag-programmation","tag-selfies","tag-silicon-valley","tag-sonia-lee","tag-steve-jobs","tag-steve-wozniak","tag-tableur","tag-traitement-de-texte","tag-turbo-pascal","tag-typescript","tag-wordperfect"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vagoinformatique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vagoinformatique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vagoinformatique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vagoinformatique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vagoinformatique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9176"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vagoinformatique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9178,"href":"https:\/\/vagoinformatique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9176\/revisions\/9178"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vagoinformatique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vagoinformatique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vagoinformatique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vagoinformatique.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}