Who cares who invented it, especially if they were incapable of bringing the technology to the mass market themselves? This would pretty much disqualify a larg

Who cares who invented it, especially if they were incapable of bringing the technology to the mass market themselves? This would pretty much disqualify a large chunk of computing research (research in general, really) from being notable according to your criteria, as it wasn't brought to the "mass market". The real heroes are those who make it useful for the mass market, not those who keep it on the 8th shelf in their "R&D Lab" or even those who manage to sell 10,000 units a year globally. They're all important. The ones who keep it on "the 8th shelf in their R&D lab" are who laid the groundwork for the mass marketeers to prevail in the first place. The small-time sellers frequently come from hobbyist backgrounds who are attempting to distribute a more specialized (or more capable for complex use cases) product as opposed to tailoring for maximum units sold. Those who bring it to the masses deserve praise in as much as the product has utility and how it improves over previous designs. All too often the result will necessarily have to be watered down so it can pass in widespread consumer circles. Is Bill Gates a hero, but Gary Kildall a zero? Nonsense. Though that's what your logic ultimately concludes.