Jobs for the boys

Dave examines why the talismanic leaders of Apple and Facebook are inspiring the next generation of techies

I learned recently that Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg head the list of influential figures most likely to inspire someone to take up a career in IT.

The Apple head honcho and celebrity turtleneck aficionado topped the pile in a survey conducted by web site CWjobs. The site's director Richard Nott even went so far as to describe Jobs as "the Thomas Edison of this century".

Why not, eh? I suppose the phonograph, long-lasting electric light bulb and commercially viable movie camera are also just slightly more sparkly and aspirational versions of existing gear.

Underneath Big Jobs was disgustingly charismatic Facebook kingpin Mark Zuckerberg (pictured - simmer down, ladies), followed by Michael Dell, Steve Ballmer and Google's Larry Page.

Personally, I'm disappointed not to see any of the UK's tech pioneers on this list. Is Tim Berners-Lee (the man who invented the internet - the internet!) really less influential than some Texan college dropout who put his name on a specced-up box? And what of Martha Lane-Fox? Or Jonathan Ives? Or Suzi Perry from the Gadget Show?

Something tells me she's fuelled more teenage dreams than the rest combined.