Michael Homer
Encyclopedia
Michael J. Homer was an American
electronics and computer industry executive who played major roles in the development of the personal computer
, mobile devices and the Internet
.
.
He was hired by Apple Computer in 1982, where he served as the technology adviser to the firm's chief executive, John Sculley
. He followed with a position as marketing vice president at GO Corp.
, an early pioneer in creating software for mobile computers and personal digital assistants that did early work in pen-based computing.
After Go closed in 1994, John Doerr
of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Go's main venture capital
backer, made the connection for Homer at Marc Andreessen
's Netscape Communications Corporation
. Homer was a vice president at the Netscape in the 1990s at the dawn of the World Wide Web
. There, Homer developed the company's initial business plan
and played a pivotal role in obtaining the private financing necessary to allow the company to progress to its 1995 initial public offering
. He developed marketing plans for Netscape in 1994 at a time when few people had ever heard of the Internet. During the period where Microsoft
challenged Netscape's early browser dominance with its Internet Explorer
product, Homer headed the firm's marketing department as it faced bitter competition from Microsoft, a challenge that ultimately resulted in an antitrust suit
. Homer helped argue that Microsoft had abused its monopoly power in the operating system market to push out Netscape's browser in favor of its own.
Following AOL
's acquisition of Netscape in 2000, Homer founded Kontiki
, a peer-assisted content delivery technology company, that was purchased by VeriSign
in March 2006 for $62 million, with a proviso that the rights to use the firm's technology would be donated to the non-profit Open Media Network
. Homer fostered the early growth of a series of technology firms, including roles in the development of Google
, Tellme Networks
and TiVo
, and sat on the board of Palm, Inc.
, a very rare and incurable degenerative
neurological disorder
. Several people close to him created "Fight for Mike", an organization that raised $7 million used to fund research in the neurology department of the University of California, San Francisco
towards study and potential cure of the disease. The team at UCSF includes Dr. Stanley B. Prusiner
, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
in 1997 for his discovery of the prion
, misshapen proteins that trigger CJD and bovine spongiform encephalopathy
("mad cow disease"). The team at UCSF was studying the use of Quinacrine
, long used as an antimalarial drug
, in the treatment of CJD.
Homer died at age 50 on February 1, 2009 in Atherton, California
. He was survived by his wife, three children, his mother and sister.. The science center at Sacred Heart Preparatory (Atherton, California)
is named after him.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
electronics and computer industry executive who played major roles in the development of the personal computer
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
, mobile devices and the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
Life and career
Homer was born in San Francisco on February 24, 1958 and was awarded a bachelor's degree at the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
.
He was hired by Apple Computer in 1982, where he served as the technology adviser to the firm's chief executive, John Sculley
John Sculley
John Sculley is an American businessman. Sculley was vice-president and president of PepsiCo , until he became CEO of Apple on April 8, 1983, a position he held until leaving in 1993...
. He followed with a position as marketing vice president at GO Corp.
GO Corp.
GO Corporation was founded in 1987 to create portable computers, an operating system, and software with a pen-based user interface. It was famous not only for its pioneering work in Pen-based computing but as well as being one of the most well-funded start-up companies of its time.Though the...
, an early pioneer in creating software for mobile computers and personal digital assistants that did early work in pen-based computing.
After Go closed in 1994, John Doerr
John Doerr
L. John Doerr is an American venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in Menlo Park, California, in Silicon Valley. In February 2009, Doerr was appointed as a member of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board to provide the president and his administration with advice and...
of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Go's main venture capital
Venture capital
Venture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...
backer, made the connection for Homer at Marc Andreessen
Marc Andreessen
Marc Andreessen is an American entrepreneur, investor, software engineer, and multi-millionaire best known as co-author of Mosaic, the first widely-used web browser, and co-founder of Netscape Communications Corporation. He founded and later sold the software company Opsware to Hewlett-Packard...
's Netscape Communications Corporation
Netscape
Netscape Communications is a US computer services company, best known for Netscape Navigator, its web browser. When it was an independent company, its headquarters were in Mountain View, California...
. Homer was a vice president at the Netscape in the 1990s at the dawn of the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
. There, Homer developed the company's initial business plan
Business plan
A business plan is a formal statement of a set of business goals, the reasons why they are believed attainable, and the plan for reaching those goals. It may also contain background information about the organization or team attempting to reach those goals....
and played a pivotal role in obtaining the private financing necessary to allow the company to progress to its 1995 initial public offering
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
. He developed marketing plans for Netscape in 1994 at a time when few people had ever heard of the Internet. During the period where Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
challenged Netscape's early browser dominance with its Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer
Windows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
product, Homer headed the firm's marketing department as it faced bitter competition from Microsoft, a challenge that ultimately resulted in an antitrust suit
United States v. Microsoft
United States v. Microsoft was a set of civil actions filed against Microsoft Corporation pursuant to the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 Section 1 and 2 on May 8, 1998 by the United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states. Joel I. Klein was the lead prosecutor...
. Homer helped argue that Microsoft had abused its monopoly power in the operating system market to push out Netscape's browser in favor of its own.
Following AOL
AOL
AOL Inc. is an American global Internet services and media company. AOL is headquartered at 770 Broadway in New York. Founded in 1983 as Control Video Corporation, it has franchised its services to companies in several nations around the world or set up international versions of its services...
's acquisition of Netscape in 2000, Homer founded Kontiki
Kontiki
Kontiki is a peer-assisted content delivery technology company, founded in November 2000. It was acquired by VeriSign in March 2006. VeriSign, as part of a major divestiture, sold Kontiki to MK Capital in May 2008....
, a peer-assisted content delivery technology company, that was purchased by VeriSign
VeriSign
Verisign, Inc. is an American company based in Dulles, Virginia that operates a diverse array of network infrastructure, including two of the Internet's thirteen root nameservers, the authoritative registry for the .com, .net, and .name generic top-level domains and the .cc and .tv country-code...
in March 2006 for $62 million, with a proviso that the rights to use the firm's technology would be donated to the non-profit Open Media Network
Open Media Network
The Open Media Network was a P2PTV service and application which provided distribution of educational and public service programs. The network was founded in 2005 by Netscape pioneers Mike Homer and Marc Andreessen...
. Homer fostered the early growth of a series of technology firms, including roles in the development of Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, Tellme Networks
Tellme Networks
Tellme. Networks, Inc. is a company founded in 1999 by Mike McCue and Angus Davis, based out of Mountain View, California, in the United States, that specializes in telephone-based applications....
and TiVo
TiVo
TiVo is a digital video recorder developed and marketed by TiVo, Inc. and introduced in 1999. TiVo provides an on-screen guide of scheduled broadcast programming television programs, whose features include "Season Pass" schedules which record every new episode of a series, and "WishList"...
, and sat on the board of Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc., was a smartphone manufacturer headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, that was responsible for products such as the Pre and Pixi as well as the Treo and Centro smartphones. Previous product lines include the PalmPilot, Palm III, Palm V, Palm VII, Zire and Tungsten. While their older...
Illness
In 2007, persistent memory problems he had been experiencing led to a diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob diseaseCreutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease or CJD is a degenerative neurological disorder that is incurable and invariably fatal. CJD is at times called a human form of mad cow disease, given that bovine spongiform encephalopathy is believed to be the cause of variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease in humans.CJD...
, a very rare and incurable degenerative
Degeneration (medical)
Degeneration is deterioration in the medical sense. Generally, it is the change from a higher to a lower form. More specifically, it is the change of tissue to a lower or less functionally active form....
neurological disorder
Neurological disorder
A neurological disorder is a disorder of the body's nervous system. Structural, biochemical or electrical abnormalities in the brain, spinal cord, or in the nerves leading to or from them, can result in symptoms such as paralysis, muscle weakness, poor coordination, loss of sensation, seizures,...
. Several people close to him created "Fight for Mike", an organization that raised $7 million used to fund research in the neurology department of the University of California, San Francisco
University of California, San Francisco
The University of California, San Francisco is one of the world's leading centers of health sciences research, patient care, and education. UCSF's medical, pharmacy, dentistry, nursing, and graduate schools are among the top health science professional schools in the world...
towards study and potential cure of the disease. The team at UCSF includes Dr. Stanley B. Prusiner
Stanley B. Prusiner
Stanley Ben Prusiner is an American neurologist and biochemist. Currently the director of the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases at University of California, San Francisco . Prusiner discovered prions, a class of infectious self-reproducing pathogens primarily or solely composed of protein...
, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine administered by the Nobel Foundation, is awarded once a year for outstanding discoveries in the field of life science and medicine. It is one of five Nobel Prizes established in 1895 by Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, in his will...
in 1997 for his discovery of the prion
Prion
A prion is an infectious agent composed of protein in a misfolded form. This is in contrast to all other known infectious agents which must contain nucleic acids . The word prion, coined in 1982 by Stanley B. Prusiner, is a portmanteau derived from the words protein and infection...
, misshapen proteins that trigger CJD and bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy , commonly known as mad-cow disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease in cattle that causes a spongy degeneration in the brain and spinal cord. BSE has a long incubation period, about 30 months to 8 years, usually affecting adult cattle at a peak age onset of...
("mad cow disease"). The team at UCSF was studying the use of Quinacrine
Quinacrine
Quinacrine is a drug with a number of different medical applications. It is related to mefloquine.-Uses:Its main effects are as an antiprotozoal, antirheumatic and an intrapleural sclerosing agent....
, long used as an antimalarial drug
Antimalarial drug
Antimalarial medications, also known as antimalarials, are designed to prevent or cure malaria. Such drugs may be used for some or all of the following:* Treatment of malaria in individuals with suspected or confirmed infection...
, in the treatment of CJD.
Homer died at age 50 on February 1, 2009 in Atherton, California
Atherton, California
Atherton is an incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States. Its population was 6,914 at the 2010 census. In September 2010, Forbes magazine placed Atherton's zip code of 94027 at #2 on its annual list of America's most expensive zip codes, with a median home price of $4,010,200...
. He was survived by his wife, three children, his mother and sister.. The science center at Sacred Heart Preparatory (Atherton, California)
Sacred Heart Preparatory (Atherton, California)
Sacred Heart Schools Atherton, formerly known as Sacred Heart Preparatory, Sacred Heart Prep, or, more colloquially, SHP, is an independent private, Society of the Sacred Heart affiliated college preparatory school in Atherton, California, USA...
is named after him.