Geoff Goodfellow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Geoff Goodfellow is an arpanet wireless email visionary. He came up with the idea in 1982 and published it in an article titled "Electronic Mail for People on the Move" in Telecom Digest, a widely read arpanet mailing list. In the early 1990s Mr. Goodfellow attempted to commercialize his concept in a product called RadioMail. In 1992, Radiomail entered into a partnership with Research in Motion, RAM Mobile Data, and Ericsson. Goodfellow left the company in 1996. Research in Motion went on to develop the BlackBerry wireless computing device, based partly on Goodfellow's ideas.
Goodfellow, a contributor to the Jargon File and participant in the early days of the Silicon Valley computer culture, did not believe in patenting his idea. He told The New York Times, "You don't patent the obvious...The way you compete is to build something that is faster, better, cheaper. You don't lock your ideas up in a patent and rest on your laurels." ( See NY Times, "In Silicon Valley, a Man Without a Patent", by John Markoff, April 16, 2006)
Ironically, another inventor, Thomas J. Campana Jr., was granted several patents covering his inventions related to the practical implementation of wireless e-mail. In 2006, after a protracted legal battle, (See NTP Inc.) Research in Motion had to pay $US 615 million to obtain rights to these patents.
In 2006 Goodfellow is serving as electronica music director at KZSU where he hosts beat.net.
[edit] References
- John Markoff. "In Silicon Valley, a Man Without a Patent", The New York Times, April 16, 2006, p. 1, section 3. (also the International Herald Tribune)
[edit] External links
- Discussion of the arpanet post on the blog Good Morning Silicon Valley
- Discussion of the arpanet issue on the blog Techdirt
- Wallstreet Journal Law Blog [1] "Goodfellow couldn’t come up with much documentation on his initial invention"
