There is something profound in the philosophical as much as the practical impact of digital technology. It’s down to the digits. Analogue work is whole and of a piece, but digital is a binary approximation – albeit one of enormous fidelity – of the analogue world. Perhaps inevitably, a way of working which reduces everything to digits must be less holistic than one which does not. Here lies the real digital divide: the parts versus the whole. Which do you value most? The answer is neither. The rate of digital advancement is so high that the two are easily confused. Amazing breakthroughs or the total package? You need both: but you need to be very clear what is, in fact, the end point you desire, and which is just a means of getting there. Perhaps, because of this uncertainty around its essence, the internet that has emerged is riven by conflict. It can best be described as the combination of frustrated idealism and strongly vested interests. From its inception, the internet was a collaborative effort. These are the 15 people whose unique contributions democratized information technology and switched on the digital age.