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Find a more efficient way
How GIFs were born
Gorick Ng
May 19, 2026 • Read Time:2 minutes
After sending yet another meme to my college roommates as a way of staying in touch, I decided to dig into the origins of the beloved “gif”—those moving pictures we've probably all sent before.
Let's get right to it!
Gorick
TODAY’S TAKEAWAY
Find a more efficient way.
You never know how it might impact others in your niche—or the world.
THE STORY
The GIF’s original purpose
Did you know that, before the GIF became the internet’s favorite way to send memes, it was a software engineer’s response to slow internet?
It was 1987. A software engineer named Steve Wilhite was working at the internet company CompuServe in Ohio.
At the time, sending images over dial up connections was slow and unreliable. Connections were frequently dropped, color files were often too large, and images didn’t look the same on every system.
While others either scratched their heads or accepted the problem as a fact of life, Wilhite had a different thought: if the problem is bandwidth, then why not reduce the size of the files?
Steve Wilhite, the creator of GIF.
So, he:
Reduced the number of colors available in 1 file
Designed a “revolutionary” algorithm to compress the image
Put multiple images in one file
He called it the Graphics Interchange Format, or GIF.
The GIF launched in 1987 and was hailed as a practical solution to the internet’s issues.
Then, as the format gained more users, web browsers learned to “play” the GIF’s multiple images into the looping videos that modern internet users still recognize today.
Today, nearly 40 years later, practically anyone with an internet connection can create a GIF of their own.
An early GIF meme known as “Nyan Cat.”
THE UNSPOKEN RULE
Find a more efficient way.
What I learned from Wilhite is the power of looking for more efficient ways of doing things.
So, the next time you find others staring at a problem at work (or life more broadly)…
Ask, “Is this an inevitable fact of life?”
If the answer is “no”, ask yourself, “What are 10 ways to get around this problem?” (And thanks to AI, you now have a brainstorm partner at your fingertips!)
Ask yourself, “Which option is fastest, cheapest, and most sustainable?"
As Wilhite discovered, you never know what your search for efficiency might lead to!
See you next Tuesday for our next story and unspoken rule,
Gorick
WHAT I’M READING
Here are 3 articles that I found interesting recently (no paywalls, although it may depend on your cookies):
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Gorick Ng
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