Triviality is supposed to be a test case for the validity of a patent. I think you can make a reasonable argument that if the first few users of a technology al

Triviality is supposed to be a test case for the validity of a patent. I think you can make a reasonable argument that if the first few users of a technology all independently invent a technique, that technique should be considered trivial in the context of that technology. I don't think it's necessary to deify Carmack, either. He is an extraordinary programmer, but he is not super-human.