Most Americans will not know who Philippe Kahn is, but the odds are pretty good that they've got a piece of technology he is credited with inventing - the camera phone. Kahn, a French immigrant, got the idea in 1997 when he linked up a digital camera to a cell phone in order to send pictures of his new borne baby to friends and family. Unlike many inventions, the camera phone will be looked at in the future as not just an advance in technology, but one that changed social history.
Kahn is also the founder of two well-known companies in the tech world. He and his wife Sonia Lee founded Starfish Software, the company that created TrueSync. That company is now part of Nokia. He also co-founded Borland, a company well-known for its line of software development tools.
Kahn is a naturalized US citizen. According to Wikipedia, he entered the US in 1982 and spent four years on a tourist visa (an impressive feat in and of itself since getting a visitor status renewed for that length of time is very tough) before getting a green card in 1986.
By the way, Kahn is a classically trained musician who studied flute at the Zurich conservatory. He has recorded albums with a number of leading musicians. He also has a yacht racing team that competes in many international competitions.
Suggestions for immigrant of the day: Linus Torvalds, David Hockney, David Beckham, Minnie Driver, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Zubin Mehta, Eddie Van Halen, Carlos Santana, Sidney Poitier, Iman and how in the world could you miss Pamela Anderson!
Great going Greg!
Posted by: Eb | August 16, 2007 at 05:34 PM