In Memory: Bozidar Benc

Posted By: PIC on Thursday, March 25, 2004 10:05:19 AM

One of the first and well known Palm OS developer, Bodizar Benc, has recently passed away.

The news was posted on a messageboard, "It's with the greatest of regret that I pass on the sad news that Bozidar Benc passed away yesterday. As some of you may know he was involved in a serious car accident in early February. Hopes were high for a full recovery, but unfortunately his condition worsened and finally he succumbed to complications caused by the original injuries."

Bozidar was 47 and is survived by his wife and two daughters. He lived in a small town east of Zagreb in Croatia. There is more about him in a recent interview.

Bozidar was one of the original developers of Palm shareware. He has influenced a large number of current Palm OS developers and his titles were held in very high regard. He's best known for his suite of pop-up tools, LauncherIII and more recently LauncherX.

For those who would like to send a note or contribution to Mrs. Benc in memory of her husband, the address is:

Mrs Bozidar Benc
Benc Software Production
Kosarevac 52
35000 Slavonski Brod,
CROATIA

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Article Comments
23 total comments

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Very sad

mikecane @ 3/25/2004 10:54:04 AM #

This is very sad. He was a fine talent.

RE: Very sad

4s @ 3/25/2004 11:07:39 AM #

Not only that, he was a really nice person. I had a question for him after I registered his Pop-Up Suite and he not only replied quickly, he was so personable and kind in his responses. He will be missed.

<><

RE: Very sad

Altema @ 3/25/2004 11:09:17 AM #

Yes, he will be missed very much. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

RE: Very sad

chinchorrero @ 3/25/2004 11:10:34 AM #

He will be missed.

"Life is Too Short"
Tungsten T3-Sony ericsson T610,HBH-60,SanDisk 256Mb Sd Card

RE: Very sad

JPVann @ 3/25/2004 11:17:41 AM #

Prayers for his family.

Launcher X was the finest program I have ever used on the Palm. Great talent and nice guy - he always responded quickly to my questions as a customer.

Jer 23:29

RE: Very sad

GWD @ 3/25/2004 11:46:42 AM #

This is terrible news. Bozidar and I have emailed back and forth with each other for years - since the early days of Launcher III. He was a fine man and I feel so sad for his family. He will be missed.

IIIxe, IIIc, M105, Vx, M505, Tungsten T, Tungsten T2

RE: Very sad

bquin @ 3/25/2004 12:01:45 PM #

My prayers are for his family....he was very generous and a gifted person. He will be missed...

Bquin
...laughing at a world too absurd to take seriously...

RE: Very sad

sford @ 3/25/2004 12:12:13 PM #

I agree with all the comments above. As soon as I saw the headline, I thought, "I know that name!" From LIII to LX, I've loved his s/w, and he really was excellent at customer service.

My prayers, too, are with his family.

Pilot Pro -> III -> IIIe -> Nino -> IIIc -> VIIx -> m505 -> NR70V -> NX60 -> T3

Sell your home FAST!
www.NoStressHomeSales.com

RE: Very sad

M3wThr33 @ 3/25/2004 2:36:53 PM #

I loved Launcher III (LX severly under-delivered). Wow, this is a total shock.

I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation. We're in space.

RE: Very sad

mr_yellow @ 3/25/2004 3:01:25 PM #

Loved his software!

I hope it will continue to be developed in some form or another

RE: Very sad

DWD @ 3/25/2004 5:46:26 PM #

Condolences to his family and friends. He obviously was a talented software innovator.

Condolences

RallyRoach @ 3/25/2004 12:12:12 PM #

As someone who has only used his Launcher series since my first 3Com IIIx, I can say he will be sorely missed. His software had a knack for simple, extremly useful simplicity

RallyRoach

RE: Condolences

JohnKes @ 3/25/2004 1:40:59 PM #

His software was stable, high quality, and not bloated either.

RE: Condolences

alanh @ 3/25/2004 4:26:39 PM #

My condolences as well. I used his products for years.... Launcher III was one of the first programs I installed on my PalmPilot Profesisonal.

-alan

RE: Condolences

LiveFaith @ 3/25/2004 7:52:46 PM #

Our prayers are with the family. He will be missed.

Pat Horne; www.churchoflivingfaith.com

RE: Condolences

The Brain @ 3/26/2004 10:55:41 PM #

Our lives are made richer by having been touched by his...

He made the Palm experience better.

TheMoo @ 3/25/2004 7:41:40 PM #

It is very sad to hear that he has passed. He was a great talent and I bought much of his software. He was quite a part of the whole Palm experience. My sympathy to his family.

My condolences...

jbarr @ 3/25/2004 10:05:18 PM #

Bodizar was an excellent PalmOS developer who provided many innovative applications. He will surely be missed. May he rest in peace.

RE: My condolences...

madhatter @ 3/26/2004 12:05:08 AM #

I too would like to add my condolences to Bozidar's family. I have been a user of his products since he took over the launcher product from Eric Kenslow.

It was Bozidar who first made me realize what a global phenomenon the Palm was. He was the first program developer that I had actually communicated with who was from outside the US. He always took the time to respond to questions, and acted on the suggestions from his customers.

While it is a terrible loss to the Palm community, I can only imagine how it must feel to his family and loved ones.

A Palm in hand is worth two in your pocket.

PDA24/7 collection

Galley_SimRacer @ 3/26/2004 1:20:51 AM #

All donations to PDA247 for the next 2 months will be collected and sent to Bozidar's family (they may want to donate to a charity of their choice).
http://www.pda247.com/

--
"I'm not a cool person in real life, but I play one on the Internet".
Galley

Mike Rohde's tribute

mikecane @ 3/26/2004 11:46:15 AM #

http://www.rohdesign.com/weblog/archives/000314.html

Condolences

Graffiti @ 3/27/2004 3:44:20 AM #

My deepest condolences to the family, relatives and friends of the late Mr. Benc. Although I am not personally aquainted to him, like many of us his finest piece of work the Launcher was also one of my very first apps on my first Palm IIIe. Throughout the years I have followed his work and sprightly psotings in various forums; most often than now responding and offering help to all. He has been and will continue to be part of the Palm community worldwide, in all our hearts.

A great man and will be sadly missed.

Suggestion: a tribute to Bozidar placed on PIC's main page.

;-(( @ 5/9/2004 2:30:44 AM #

Bozidar Benc was arguably the most talented programmer to ever code for the Palm platform. Launcher III, Launcher X, the PopUp suite and Application Usage are programs that millions of Palm users have enjoyed for many years.

It would be nice to see a tribute to Bozdar placed on the Palminfocenter home page, so that more Palm users become aware of his accomplishments. He deserves to be remembered for both his talent and his generosity.

I've had versions of Launcher III on my Palms for around five years and still marvel at how much Bozidar's little program changed the way I use my PDA. After hearing of Bozidar's passing, I wished I could have earlier thanked him for making so many of the programs I rely on daily.

While it's probably unlikely to occur, I hope one of the remaining elite Palm programmers - like CESD - will acquire the rights to Bozidar's launcher and continue his legacy. (I see Gavin Maxwell has updated Application Usage and put out a PalmOS 5 version called AppStats. Hopefully the development will continue for a long time to come.)

A small tribute to Bozidar on the PIC main page - perhaps linking back to this PIC article - would be a nice gesture to Bozidar's family and would help honor his contribution to the Palm community over the years.

Freedom of speech, baby. Gotta love it,

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