Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Andrew Egendorf

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was Delete, sockpuppet votes ignored. Jersey Devil 19:54, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Andrew Egendorf

Andrew Egendorf (edit|talk|history|links|watch|logs) – (View log)

Prod removed by anon, probably author. Despite the multitude of references, this article is mostly incomprehensible and I can't tell how this guy is supposed to be important. JuJube 07:04, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

• Delete - article turns out to be written by the subject's best friend: "where he met Russell Noftsker". Also, references are too vague and aren't verifiable at all. MER-C 09:10, 3 May 2007 (UTC)
• Delete this version. There could conceivably be a valid article to be written about this guy if the pioneering-software-developer claims are actually true, but this is a ridiculously overreferenced (36 references!) resume. Better to wipe it and start over unless someone can rewrite it; I'm certainly not going to volunteer with this one — iridescenti (talk to me!) 17:12, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

Hundreds of people have asked and emailed me over the years to correct the errors in my biography and the Symbolics history which are posted on Wikipedia. As Egendorf and de Valpine were critical to any description of the founding of Symbolics, the first workstation company, and since neither had biographies on Wikipedia, it seemed sensible to create a background page for each of them. I put quite a bit of effort into getting the details of their histories correct but I'm not yet familiar with the Wikipedia style so it is likely to take me some time to whittle things down to the proper format. Criticism and help are welcome.Russell Noftsker 21:53, 3 May 2007 (UTC)— Russell Noftsker (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.

• Keep ArticleThis article seems to contribute significant information to the early history of computers, AI, workstations and the Internet. Additionally, an interesting vignette concerning the origin of "Nader's Raiders". I have not attempted to check all the references, but I am familiar with several of them and they are accurate. Gerstij 19:42, 5 May 2007 (UTC)— Gerstij (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.
• Keep! I must have read this article after the latest edits, because I find it quite comprehensible and useful. It has interesting information on the early days of commercial AI, the way it got started, and especially the background of an important early shaper of the area. I have been in AI for many years, and worked at a startup AI company located near Symbolics, although we had no connections with that firm or its people. Nothing I read here is inconsistent with what I know. Personal context is critical to understanding how cultures and fields develop, and this article gives me some insight not available elsewhere. As for references, I spot-checked some and found them correct. For example, the link to the movie "An Unreasonable Man" has Egendorf mentioned as well as Nader.Nrg123 18:53, 6 May 2007 (UTC)— NRG123 (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.
• Keep I can personally vouch for the accuracy of the information presented as well as the significance of Egendorf. After graduating from Harvard Business School, I joined American Research and Development where I helped lead the first venture capital investment in Symbolics. As part of that process we engaged in a significant amount of due diligence on the company and its founders. If anything, Egendorf’s impressive background and pioneering contributions are understated. Genep02 16:47, 7 May 2007 (UTC)— Genep02 (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.
• Keep I also find the article in its present form to be readable, interesting and in agreement with my personal experience. As a co-founder of Symbolics I've known Egendorf since 1980 yet learned new things about his past from the text. I agree that there are too many numerical references that should be hyperlinks, but that can be fixed with a quick editing pass. (Okay, it was easier to do it than to talk about.) Hicannon 14:23, 9 May 2007 (UTC)— Hicannon (talk • contribs) has made few or no other edits outside this topic.
• Comment - this sockpuppeteering is really not helping the "keep" cause — all it's likely to do is make the closing admin more likely to disregard any valid keep arguments — iridescenti (talk to me!) 16:37, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.