The Graphics Interchange Format was a technological solution developed by Stephen Wilhite.

• In the 1980s, Wilhite was the lead engineer on a team at CompuServe tasked with finding a way to quickly distribute “high-quality, high-resolution graphics” in color.
• Developing this became an obsession for Wilhite, who would perfect the product at home.
• The result, GIF, was released in 1987, but its commercial success is due in large part to Netscape, which, in 1995 added the ability for GIFs to loop.

• With the rise of GIFs came a historic internet debate: whether it’s pronounced “gif” (with a hard G, like “gift”) or “jif.”
• In 2012, Oxford American Dictionaries named “GIF” its US Word of the Year, accepting both pronunciations.
• In 2013, Stephen Wilhite old The New York Times, “It’s a soft ‘G,’ pronounced ‘jif.’ End of story.
• It was a baller move, but despite his clarification, the debate seemingly continues to this day.