Elon Musk - SpaceX and Tesla have been on HN pretty consistently this year, and it's an inspiring option, too.
Snowden is not a bad choice, especially since he'll probably be snubbed by the Times in favor of the politically safe Miley Cyrus, but he's not really in tech. Satoshi Nakamoto should have been the HN POY last year (or next year once BTC goes really mainstream).
How can you say Snowden is not "in tech"? He revealed the entire global internet to be something different than we thought it was. It is political but that doesn't mean it's not technology.
There's no question that the information he leaked concerns technology, but at the same time it's clear this is a throughly political problem. So that's how I can say that Snowden is not in tech, because he's not and the whole NSA storyline is only incidentally about tech. Believe me, I'm as pissed off about the whole affair as anyone, but this is a world stage event and I was thinking a HN POY could be, at least in principle, "one of our own", as poorly defined as that concept might be.
On the flip side, getting a job working at the NSA and smuggling out hundreds of Top Secret documents, talking to a bunch of reporters across the globe to orchestrate a controlled release of the information, all while seeking asylum and evading capture is a pretty neat hack.
Bret Victor has been fantastic inspiration for me. I believed no programming video can make my jaw drop any longer, but Bret pulled it off. Hugely recommended: http://vimeo.com/71278954
It's a toss up between Snowden and Elon Musk. While I do believe Elon Musk will change the world we live in tomorrow, Snowden has dramatically changed our perception of the world we live in today.
Edward Snowden definitely, not for only personal acts but as an icon. This year has definitely been a year of surveillance scandals and we can all thank this man for taking the brave step and showing light on what governments really do. Small step for a man, giant leap for mankind, no less.
Well, if this is modeled after the Times' POY, then it's perfectly fitting. Former winners include You, The Protester, The American soldier, The Middle Americans, The Computer, etc.
POY: the nucleus group of Aaron Swartz, Edward Snowden, and someone we should not forget to thank, Assange. Where, pray tell, would we be without them?
We are suggesting 'Hacker News Person Of the Year', not 'Politician of the Year'.
'Narendra Modi' is nominated for 'TIME’s Person of the Year'. http://ti.me/1i3OkHT
The answers here expose the lack of gratitude and ethical backbone of certain HN readers. Snowden risked his life to expose the surveillance programs of the most powerful countries in the world. You could argue he did more for civil liberties than any other human being thats ever lived.
No one else even comes close in terms of taking personal risk for the benefit of the world.
Snowden is not a bad choice, especially since he'll probably be snubbed by the Times in favor of the politically safe Miley Cyrus, but he's not really in tech. Satoshi Nakamoto should have been the HN POY last year (or next year once BTC goes really mainstream).