Curious Case of Aaron Swartz

Aaron Swartz, the name not many have heard of. I too sat in those sections of people. I happened to stumble upon this name when a news article hit my dashboard saying, a year back.

"Co Founder of Reddit commits suicide at 26"

Well, this was interesting. Reddit founder was 26? And him being a so successful and sitting on the pile of moolah, why would commit suicide.


As usual, I started my digs on the topic that intrigues me and I found that this guy was a complete genius and over achiever of sorts.
The first most startling thing I found out that he did not have a pile of money. He actually got himself fired from Reddit because he never got along with the corporate culture (Reddit was bought over by Conde Nast publications in 2006). Going back to his childhood,this guy created a website called Infobase (This was 5 years prior to Wikipedia), which allowed users to store articles based on their expertise. By the time he was 12, he started working on the RSS Feed specification, which is a huge step in the way content is consumed in the modern day Internet economy. He also created an online petition system, which a modern tool of protest for all the armchair activists around the world. He was also accused of stealing documents from the JSTOR (a website which was selling scholarly documents). This guy also worked on IP rights and wrote the specifications for creative common rights. 

I am completely amazed by Aaron`s achievement at a very young age and the way he envisioned things for people. The most remarkable aspect was his attitude of questioning the norms, rules, states, and finding a solution for it. 

"Never ever accept the things they are, always tend to question them".

These words were famously said by Steve Jobs in 1993, but Aaron took action to those words. However controversial or even to the extent of being illegal, his actions may be. All I would care for his work and his vision for freedom and a better world for the people. He is truly a Digital Activist. 

Heres a documentary link for 

The Internet's Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (CC available)