The souls of departed geniuses

Yesterday the guy who invented blue screen and green screen passed away. Unless you know something about the technology of film production, this might not mean much to you.

Basically, if you’ve seen a science fiction film, if you’ve experienced any sort of fantasy world or alternate universe on screen, or if you simply possess a world view that is informed — in some deep if mysterious way — by the vision of Dick Van Dyke dancing with penguins, then this man has touched your life.

We seem to be experiencing an epidemic of such sad passings. Only weeks ago we lost the man who invented the Etch-A-Sketch. What could possibly be more beautiful, more poetic, more filled with possibilities for annihilating the gap between C.P. Snow’s two cultures, than the empowerment of young children to create art by direct manipulation of the X and Y axes?

And now these two gentlemen are both in the great beyond. What will happen now is a matter for metaphysical speculation, yet we can entertain the possibilities.

Perhaps they will meet in the afterlife, these giants of visual invention. If one thing leads to another, they will join forces, combining their respective expertise. Perhaps they might even seek out the soul of the late Fritz Fischer, realizing in the inventor of the Eidophor system a kindred spirit.

Are there startups in the afterlife? Do the souls of departed geniuses draw together, seeking to create joint ventures in the great hereafter?

If so, I wonder whether they are open to angel investors.

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