

10 contenders (and one real long shot) for Obama's CTO - erickhill
http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/11/17/10-contenders-and-one-real-long-shot-obamas-cto

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tptacek
I would be shocked if they hired a celebrity for this post. That said, because
it's fun, I'll handicap:

* Lessig and Felten are dead in the water; while I mostly agree with them, they're ideologues on topics that will make them Senate-unconfirmable (is this position Senate-confirmable?). Also, neither of them have applicable management experience.

* Schmidt isn't leaving Google.

* Bill Joy doesn't have any management experience, although he's clearly campaigning for the spot.

* Ballmer and Bezos seems plausible; Ballmer might take it as life raft from Microsoft, and Bezos seems open to random ventures. By the way, I'd be thrilled to see it be Bezos.

* The three non-celebs (Genachowski, Shah, Gips) seem like they're shortlisted.

I think we're probably paying a lot more attention to this CTO title than the
transition team is, given our biases.

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ilamont
I wrote the article, and I found your comment about the three non-celebs to be
quite interesting. Do you think their government/Washington experience be seen
as an asset, or a hindrance in an Obama administration?

I also wonder how sharp billionaire tech entrepreneurs would fare running a
federal bureaucracy and dealing with Congress.

Anyone?

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gaius
Why did you not consider Burt Rutan? He is a genuine pioneer (i.e. he doesn't
just do stuff with computers, he's out there risking his life) and he has
plenty of experience of working with government.

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ilamont
I hadn't heard or read that he was being considered, or that others had
recommended him/think he would be a good choice.

Since I wrote this, I've heard three new names. It might warrant a follow-up
...

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ilamont
Some more names:

<http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/08/078245>

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nickb
What a horrible list.

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bprater
Where is Cringely?!

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henning
Where's RMS?

Where's Fake Steve Jobs?!

