You know people were working on this years before Bezos decided to fund it and donate land?
"The idea for the clock has been around since Danny Hillis first proposed it in WIRED magazine in 1995. Since then, Hillis and others have built prototypes and created a nonprofit, the Long Now Foundation, to work on the clock and promote long-term thinking."
Totally. I think using the word "commissioned" in the headline is very misleading. It implies that Bezos paid to have it designed & created, when in fact he's just giving Hillis the money he needs to finally make it a reality.
"The idea for the clock has been around since Danny Hillis first proposed it in WIRED magazine in 1995. Since then, Hillis and others have built prototypes and created a nonprofit, the Long Now Foundation, to work on the clock and promote long-term thinking."