Noted Singaporean inventor and technology veteran Sim Wong Hoo, who founded Creative Technology in 1981 and subsequently found global success with the Sound Blaster sound card for computers, has passed away at the age of 67.
The billionaire entrepreneur served as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the company he founded, and designed and developed a series of popular personal computer accessories and digital entertainment devices, including the Creative ZEN range of audio and media products. He passed away peacefully on 4 January, 2023.
A graduate of Bukit Panjang Government High School, and subsequently, from the then Ngee Ann Technical College (currently Ngee Ann Polytechnic) Electrical & Electronic Engineering faculty in 1975, Mr Sim pioneered the implementation of sound cards as the default consumer audio standard in IBM PC machines, until eventual PC design saw the inclusion of onboard audio electronics. By 1995, the sale of Sound Blaster cards sold over 15 million units worldwide, putting Singapore technology on the global map as this accounted for seven out of ten sound cards sold then.
Creative Technology, known as Creative Labs in the United States, was among the first companies to develop portable digital music players, and the company launched the popular Creative NOMAD Jukebox in 2000, predating the launch of Apple’s iconic iPod digital music player, which was released in 2001. Following Mr Sim’s passion for technology and high quality audio, the NOMAD 6GB hard drive could store hundreds of digital MP3 files at a time where digital music files were uncommon, but more importantly, the Jukebox offered advanced audio settings to audiophiles on the go, including equalizer and spatialization settings.
This eventually led to a range of Creative digital audio products, including the NOMAD MuVo and NOMAD Jukebox, while ultimately paved the way for the Creative ZEN series of music players, which made its debut in 2004. While Creative eventually lost the digital music player race to Steve Jobs’ iPod, the company sued Apple in 2006 for copyright infringement, and asked a U.S. court to block sales of Apple’s iPod devices as the music players violated one of Creative’s U.S. patents.
The company also asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to investigate if Apple violated U.S. trade law by importing the players into the U.S.. Apple countersued a week later, claiming that Creative was infringing on Apple patents for user interfaces. Creative filed for the patent on Jan. 5, 2001, before the iPod went on sale.
Both companies subsequently settled the lawsuit, with Apple paying Creative US$100 million. As part of the agreement, Creative entered Apple’s program as an authorized seller of iPod accessories.
“Creative is very fortunate to have been granted this early patent,” Apple founder Steve Jobs said in a statement at the time.
The company continued to explore new avenues in digital music, and most recently developed the Creative SXFI Holography audio technology in 2018, which recreates stereoscopic audio technology in headphones, including using cameras to map a user’s ear to tune audio waves for individuals. Regarded as a breakthrough in personal audio technology, the development of portable and personal all-round audio that tracks listeners, sometimes known as virtual audio, 3D audio or spatial audio, is now considered the industry gold-standard, with companies such as Apple, Dolby Atmos and Microsoft developing their own implementation of it.
In a statement released by Creative Technology’s board of directors, the company appointed Mr. Lee Kheng Nam, Lead Independent Non-Executive Director, as acting Chairman, and Mr. Ng Kai Wa, Independent Non-Executive Director, as acting Vice Chairman.
The Board has also appointed Mr. Song Siow Hui, President of the Company’s Creative Labs Business Unit, interim Chief Executive Officer.
“I have known and worked with Mr. Sim for over 30 years. This is a sad and sudden development and we feel a great loss especially since Mr. Sim and I recently had extensive discussions on the future direction of the company. During those discussions. Mr. Sim was full of fresh vision. Even on the night before, he had a long discussion with the engineering team and was scheduled to meet with the online sales team the next day. The best thing to do now is to ensure the continued smooth running of the company, and also to execute and realise the vision and strategy that Mr. Sim had for the company,” said Mr. Song.
Hsals needs more space in his house, and more money in his bank account to pay for all the toys, collectibles and other geek related items that companies are churning out. Free-time? Girlfriend? Who’s got time for those?
Linette Lin
Natalie
