The History of the GIF

Ever wondered what the origin of the GIF was? Read here to find out!

By: Ava Djakovich

Have you ever been at a loss for words when you are texting someone or trying to post something on social media? Even an emoji cannot fill that void, a short clip from a movie or a television show would definitely do the trick! Insert the perfect fix, the GIF, all thanks to its creator Steven Wilhite (Boissoneault). Surprisingly enough, the GIF was invented in 1987! Wilhite and his tech crew at CompuServe were looking to solve a problem. They needed to figure out a way to have a computer present an image while simultaneously saving the image’s memory. The term GIF is actually short for Graphics Interchange Format (Boissoneault). 

Since the GIF has been created, its users have had the debate of how it is pronounced. Some users pronounce it with a hard “G” sound and others with a softer “G” sound. To quote Lorraine Boissoneault from her article published in the Smithsonian Magazine, “For the record, Wilhite pronounces his creation with a soft G, using a play on the peanut butter ad as a demonstration: “Choosy developers choose GIF.” (Boissoneault). 

Although Steven Wilhite created the GIF Abraham Lemepl, Terry Welch, and Jacob Ziv are the bright minds behind the algorithm that turns the GIF into a moving photograph. Titled the LZW algorithm, in 1995 they finally patented their idea. They charged a small royalty of .45 percent and .65 percent on different products each time their algorithm was used (Boissoneault). The patent on their algorithm later ran out around 2003-2004. 

GIFs are short soundless videos set on a loop. They add a fun spin when texting that emojis just cannot quite suffice. How else could you relay emotion over a text message without using a GIF that shows someone laughing, smiling, crying, etc.? Steven Wilhite’s whole goal when creating the GIF for CompuServe was to make it effective and adaptable. “Programmers, developers and the everyday computer user could layer various elements, including WordArt, logos, charts and images, on top of each other to create one dynamic custom image. He didn’t stop there, though — he also made it extensible.” (Follow). Wilhite’s invention, with the adaptions from the LZW algorithm, opened up a whole branch of the internet that is so famed today but created beyond its time upon its first invention in 1987. 

A product of the internet in the ’90s was the platform Netscape. Although it is no longer in existence, Netscape was the main display for GIFs. To quote Greg Secrist from his BKA Content article, “Netscape was the first browser that allowed users to interact with images as opposed to just text. While clicking on an image or logo to access a new page may seem standard to you, it was revolutionary back then.” (Follow). He refers to Netscape as “the Google of the 90’s” the entire webpage capitalized upon the use of GIFs.

After GIFs became extremely popular and flourished on Netscape, they hit a bump in their road to ultimate popularity. Although so many companies and programmers had been using GIFs, no one seemed to pay attention to the original company that owned the patent to the algorithm. This is where the .45% to .60% royalty fee for the LZW algorithm comes into action. If developers wanted to use the algorithm in any way they were going to have to pay for it and this fee angered the masses. Developers went into a protest over the royalty charges and declared a movement that the internet refers to as “burn all GIFs” (Follow). 

Though angry developers had destroyed all of their GIF files, this was not the end of the moving photo file. “It’s unclear in GIF history, exactly, when the GIF made its comeback, but come back it did. In fact, in 2013, a year after the Oxford Dictionary named “GIF” the word of the year, Steve Wilhite received a lifetime achievement award at the Webbys, which is when and where he decided to educate the world on the correct pronunciation of the file format.” (Follow). So think about the history behind it the next time you find yourself using a GIF. Think about how you are actually supposed to pronounce it and think about how adaptable and incredible the algorithm behind your favorite soundless looped video is.

SOURCES

Boissoneault, Lorraine. “A Brief History of the GIF, From Early Internet Innovation to Ubiquitous Relic.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 2 June 2017, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/brief-history-gif-early-internet-innovation-ubiquitous-relic-180963543/. 

Follow MeGreg SecristCo-Founder & CEOGreg Secrist has worked in the SEO and content creation industry since 2009. He is the CEO and co-founder of BKA Content. “The History of GIFs and How To Use Them.” BKA Content, 28 Feb. 2021, www.bkacontent.com/the-history-of-the-gif-and-using-with-your-custom-writing-service/.