Nördnytt! 🤓John C. Dvorak has died
- giancarlostoro - 5871 sekunder sedanFor those like me wondering if he's also the creator of the Dvorak keyboard, no but close!
> He is a nephew of sociologist August Dvorak, creator of the Dvorak keyboard.
- Centigonal - 5762 sekunder sedanThat tiny 1"x1.5" thumbnail[1] of John C. Dvorak in PC Magazine was the essence of Gravitas for me as a kid.
[1]https://archive.org/details/PC-Mag-1999-12-14/page/88/mode/2...
- _-_-__-_-_- - 380 sekunder sedanI'm 36, I've been an intense podcast listener and tech news reader since I was 14 years old. In 2005, I discovered This Week in Tech where John C. Dvorak was a frequent early guest. I liked his style and found other podcasts and websites where I could find his content. I really enjoyed Cranky Geeks. For fans, here is the No Agenda newsletter link with current information: https://mailchi.mp/nashownotes/rip-jcd-no-agenda-newsletter.
- ColdStream - 4219 sekunder sedanCredit to him, he always had a bold take.
One of the funniest things he used to do was write draft reviews of software simply by looking at the back of the box. He said you could get it like 90% right just doing that, I was a different era.
I also remember Leo Laporte constantly trying to take his phone back of him as John was trying to guess his passcode or unlock pattern based on the screen smudges.
Didn't agree with him at lot but he always brought something to the table.
- mrandish - 1712 sekunder sedanI had many lovely dinners with John back in the 90s (he loved Chez Panisse). While his public persona could occasionally be curmudgeonly, in person he was a warm-hearted, passionate computing enthusiast.
- 1970-01-01 - 4679 sekunder sedanhttps://www.pcmag.com/authors/john-c-dvorak
He went all-in on his takes. Most were on the money, some were big misses. He was very good at what he did. R.I.P.
https://www.pcmag.com/opinions/reddits-wild-west-experiment-...
https://www.pcmag.com/opinions/the-30-year-ai-scare-cycle
https://www.pcmag.com/opinions/the-dark-ages-of-search
https://www.pcmag.com/opinions/enough-with-the-3d-printer-hy...
- asdefghyk - 8936 sekunder sedanI first become aware of John C. Dvorak in Byte magazine, ( back in the 80s?) to me he was a respected insigtful interesting content wrighter.
The post link above says he was 74, THe wikipedia page says 80. I gues one will be corrected. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Dvorak
RIP
- greatquux - 6099 sekunder sedanDamn.. images of glossy PC Magazines that I used to read are filling my head.. growing up in the 80s & 90s with computer building and reselling as the family business, and just being excited about new technology, and he was a part of that.
- scientifik - 2133 sekunder sedanSad, I met him very briefly ~20 years ago when he was giving a talk at my Alma Mater (no, you've never heard of it)
Funny enough the audience was made up of his contemporaries but were completely computer-illiterate. He wanted to discuss heady topics but the Q&A was mostly people asking him to explain Linux (How can it be free? Who owns it?) I could tell he was a bit annoyed to have to get so basic with his audience but I think he kind of somewhat enjoyed sharing a new concept with them.
- epochbtc - 1449 sekunder sedanI remember reading an article by him in the 90s where he claimed e-commerce would never take off because all internet users expect everything to be free.
- chollida1 - 5401 sekunder sedanOh man, that's an old school name.
I miss cranky geeks, to the point where I've gone back to listen to older episodes.
- gumby - 112 sekunder sedanAlways confident, occasionally correct.
- speak_plainly - 2254 sekunder sedanRest in Peace, John.
It looks like Adam Curry and John’s wife Mimi will be hosting an episode of No Agenda tomorrow to share stories and anecdotes in remembrance.
https://mailchi.mp/nashownotes/rip-jcd-no-agenda-newsletter?...
- cebert - 2577 sekunder sedanI’ll always remember him from Twit. He always made the show entertaining. I wonder if he and Leo were ever able to reconcile their differences.
- calmbonsai - 1261 sekunder sedanI don't know the man personally, but I was never impressed by his punditry even in the early PC MAG days and it got even worse when he started writing for MarketWatch.
He was always lots of loud platitudes or damnations with more noise than signal or thoughtful analysis. At some point, I just stopped listening and/or reading whenever his name came up.
- jarcoal - 1338 sekunder sedanDamn, this one hit hard. Grew up watching him on ZDTV/TechTV. RIP.
- chongli - 1106 sekunder sedanI remember reading some of his columns growing up and I used to intensely dislike him for his dismissive takes on a lot of products and technologies I thought were important (most infamously, he dismissed the mouse)! Later on, I saw him as one of the regular guests on Leo Laporte's TWIT podcasts, and it totally changed my perception of him. The guy was genuinely hilarious and a real lovable curmudgeon, not a true naysayer.
I hadn't read or heard anything from him in recent years, though I had heard he had a falling out with Leo Laporte. He might have reconciled more recently but I am not sure. I know Leo will genuinely mourn him, as they were friends and colleagues for many years. I really miss him now too!
- relex - 4432 sekunder sedanRIP, gonna mis listening to your conversations with Adam, link to the last no agenda show (podcast): https://www.noagendashow.net/listen/1887
- delfugal - 5826 sekunder sedanDvorak shaped the emerging PC industry. Larger than life figure. Sad he's not here for the AI takeover.
- petcat - 921 sekunder sedanI'll always appreciate his love for Costco wines.
- bredren - 1592 sekunder sedanI used to read him in my dad's PC Magazine subscription. I had some ~falling out over what my teenage self perceived as backwards take on mp3s and their proliferation. Perhaps one one of my earliest experiences with "kill your heroes" concept.
Glad for all of his contributions, I did enjoy reading his work.
- alexjplant - 813 sekunder sedanMy grandparents sprung for a subscription to PC Magazine when I was a preteen for a year or two so that I could read his column in the very pack of each issue. I'm sure my thoughts on his opinions would be radically different today but his writing was timeless and hilarious. Mad respect and RIP.
- rhymeswithjazz - 5110 sekunder sedanI clicked on this link with my 'experimental pointing device called a mouse'. Rest in peace from all the ships at sea.
- corywatilo - 1238 sekunder sedani have spent nearly half my life listening to the voice of John C. Dvorak on a nightly basis as i went to bed.
literally since i was in college – around 2008 – i started listening to the No Agenda Show. i'd play the podcast in one ear with the other on my pillow with a 30-minute sleep timer and play it over several nights until the next episode came out.
my outlook, my ideology, my perspective on life was partly formed by this man's words.
thanks for everything, John.
- havaloc - 5486 sekunder sedanI loved reading his columns at PC Magazine growing up, it's an end of an era. He had such an interesting view of the PC industry as a whole and his column was almost always the first thing I read when a new issue would arrive at my house.
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- mutagen - 1802 sekunder sedanOne of my highlights of 90s internet was forwarding some amusing computer anecdote or joke somewhere where it eventually got to John Dvorak with my email at the top of the forward chain and he reached out asking if he could credit me or get help finding the source. Unfortunately I didn't know the original source but I felt connected to the world in a new way.
- SeenNotHeard - 5921 sekunder sedanIn my youth, his InfoWorld columns were appointment reading. A one-of-a-kind in the industry.
- dec0dedab0de - 3846 sekunder sedanI used to watch his podcast ~20 years ago, I still bring up how excited he was about finding secret bottles of wine in costco
- lee_a - 3784 sekunder sedanGoodness. First came across his work watching Silicon Spin on ZDTV while I was in high school. Such a legend.
- theflyingelvis - 2096 sekunder sedanI remember listening to him in the early 90’s on WFSU public radio, a show called Software Hard Talk. I enjoyed his snarky wit. Listened to him repeatedly call one of the BOB characters barf the dog much to Melinda (French) Gates’ annoyance.
His one page gossip column in the back of PC Mag was pretty great too.
This news makes me kinda sad.
- Jimmc414 - 9457 sekunder sedanUsed to watch him regularly on ZDTV. RIP
- bananaflag - 3649 sekunder sedanHere is an old column of his, "New Architecture Needed"
- brandonmenc - 3639 sekunder sedanhttps://youtu.be/ur296s3wIv4
ITM, RIP
- arm32 - 4042 sekunder sedanMay he write some excellent reviews of the technology in the afterlife. Thanks for all the great reads, John!
- jacobgold - 3157 sekunder sedanHe was our Andy Rooney. RIP.
- panny - 826 sekunder sedanI hated that guy so much when I was a fan of Apple. I think maybe he did it on purpose to keep the readership up. I should probably go back and read a few of his rants again with 20/20 hindsight, now that I'm not particularly fond of Apple any longer. I might end up laughing or even agreeing with him.
- uproarchat - 2241 sekunder sedanRest in peace! I definitely have some strong memories watching JCD over the years. You will be missed.
- cjboco - 4994 sekunder sedanWas this the guy that always had it out for Apple, and was somewhat notorious with bad Apple predictions?
- xbar - 5400 sekunder sedanHe was a thoughtful and insightful writer. I eagerly awaited his PC Magazine article every single week.
- jv22222 - 1495 sekunder sedanNooooo! Sigh. RIP JCD :(
I was very lucky to get a chance to interview him on our podcast back in 2010 [1]. He of course was very funny and insightful.
So kind of him to even come on our unknown show.
I used to love listening to him in early No Agenda [2] talking about his takes on all sorts of worldly things especially fine dining, spices, and all the famous people he'd had run-ins with.
[1] https://techzinglive.com/episode/6bc8086b/50-tz-interview-th...
- freeAgent - 5330 sekunder sedanThat’s very sad. I enjoyed his contributions to PC Mag and TWiT.
- saturn8601 - 2649 sekunder sedanThe Silicon Spin intro and Cranky Geeks theme song are burned into my head.
I was in elementary school watching ZDTV after school instead of doing my homework. One of those shows that's burned into my head, I don't even know why, is Silicon Spin.
Every now and then I have visions of my childhood, dreaming about this mysterious place called Silicon Valley that I never actually managed to get to. I also recall the fond moments watching literally everything on TechTV and ZDTV even if I didn't really fully understand everything. (I mean you're not going to understand everything in elementary school).
John C. Dvorak was probably speaking of content that my age range didn't fully comprehend at the time, but I still loved it.
I was so fortunate to meet Patrick Norton back at DEFCON in 2019, and it was a dream come true. I was able to express my appreciation not only of him but also about the whole ZDTV and TechTV cast including John C. Dvorak, many of whom had gone in different directions post TechTV. They were all such a comforting part of my childhood.
I was watching TechTV on 9/11 and remember how when Bush got on tv in the evening, they had a momentary fumble in switching over to him so they just overlaid CNN or some other news channel. Growing up Muslim in that area of the country, all the TechTV shows including Silicon Spin became even more pivotal in keeping some semblance of the happiness and ease of life I had before that day (which I never really got back).
Watching these old episodes are charming given the topics:
[0]:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYW3nkMl9GQ
[1]:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcJBXgmdX44
This has been a tough few years seeing people and companies that provided me a lot of joy and happiness start to pass away. I guess its just a part of realizing you are getting old and time moves on to the next generation.
I speak to a lot of Gen-Z since they are defining the culture now and so many of them just have little to no concept of the world before iPhone and as such don't remember that era of computing and the people involved in it.
I feel that makes all the people that were around even more special to me. We all got to be a part of that slice of history (them producing and me appreciating it and growing because of it) and it was unique to us in that time period. I am thankful that he was a part of my life journey in a small way.
- adamrezich - 3896 sekunder sedanI grew up reading his column in PC Mag, then watched him on TechTV, and then listened to him on TWiT (where he was consistently the best part of the show, and being how I learned about Sarbanes-Oxley, because he'd bring it up like every episode for a good long while there), and later No Agenda. Before I'd realized it, John had be come the constant throughline as technology progressed throughout my life. I knew it was going to happen sooner or later, but it still really hurts to see him go.
- wnevets - 3491 sekunder sedanRough year for the cranky geeks cast.
- ksurace - 1998 sekunder sedanIncredible loss.
- qwertyuiop_ - 1701 sekunder sedanRIP ITM
- Alien1Being - 2051 sekunder sedanHe was related to the Dvorak keyboard inventor.
- overgard - 5241 sekunder sedanSad news, I grew up reading his column.
- ratelimitsteve - 4342 sekunder sedanStill an opportunity to edit his wiki if anyone wants to be the official Bear of Bad News(tm)
- marknutter - 4712 sekunder sedanI loved listening to him on TWiT and other shows/podcasts. RIP, what a legend.
- paulpauper - 5879 sekunder sedanLast tweet by him just 2 days ago.
- thundercleeze - 8397 sekunder sedanWhat a bummer.
- mlindner - 1485 sekunder sedanLiterally never even heard of him or this show he apparently ran so I'm confused why this is so upvoted.
- ranger_danger - 3774 sekunder sedanWasn't he the one who famously said the iBook looked like a toilet seat?
- james_pm - 2341 sekunder sedanSad news. He was the OG tech grouch. Went way off the deep end with conspiracy crap and right wing nonsense over the last decade, but I always assumed some of that was opportunistic performance. RIP.
- browningstreet - 8435 sekunder sedanRIP
- krunger - 3165 sekunder sedan[dead]
- ChrisMarshallNY - 4674 sekunder sedanI'd say this def rates a black bar.