John C. Dvorak, an Early and Influential Technology Journalist, Dies At 80 (talkingbiznews.com) 46
Longtime Slashdot reader sandbagger shares the passing of John C. Dvorak, an early and influential technology journalist for PC Magazine. He was 80. Talking Biz News reports: Aric Mackey writes, "Widely recognized for his profound impact on the technology industry, John's career spanned decades of rapid digital evolution. He was perhaps best known for his influential, long-running column in PC Magazine and his groundbreaking work on the No Agenda podcast. Through his prolific writing, broadcasting, and distinct public voice, he helped shape critical conversations around both technology and political analysis, guiding generations of readers and listeners with his unique perspective.
"To those who knew him personally, John was far more than his public work. He was a beloved husband, devoted father, proud grandfather, and a loyal friend. Those closest to him will remember a man defined by his strong convictions, his exceptionally sharp wit, and an enduring curiosity about the world around him." Dvorak was also part of the startup team at CNET Networks, and appeared on MarketWatch TV.
"To those who knew him personally, John was far more than his public work. He was a beloved husband, devoted father, proud grandfather, and a loyal friend. Those closest to him will remember a man defined by his strong convictions, his exceptionally sharp wit, and an enduring curiosity about the world around him." Dvorak was also part of the startup team at CNET Networks, and appeared on MarketWatch TV.
Re: (Score:1, Flamebait)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Mocking Dvorak used to be a favorite Slashdot pastime, back in the day. We forgot about it when we got too busy mocking Cringely. It was exactly because he was constantly wrong.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't recall him being so wrong about things. Cranky Geeks, that was the show I used to watch/listen.
I thought between him and the guests it was informative and interesting to hear what they were saying down in silicon valley.
I guess I wasnt hanging around here much at that time... I used to go by fuzz500, but I couldn't get the UID back when I returned here to kick ass I was so bored during the pandemic. I was a 6 digit dude like you.
Re: (Score:1)
I recall having readable fonts (and I've got a large collection, I've been into them since forever as my mother was a graphic artist) on Linux long before Ubuntu. Anyhoo, google has /. well-indexed and it is a great way to find the posts of Slashdot history by searching e.g. "john" "dvorak" site:slashdot.org
How quickly they forget (Score:2)
Not to feed the trolls or propagate their vacuous Subjects.
But my Subject is double-headed. The relevant head involves my reaction to such a passing... I didn't remember that he wrote any books, but I hoped I might have read something he edited... Came up dry.
So my next step is to check in the local libraries for some of his stuff that I could read in memoriam, so to speak. Again came up dry.
But he was such a famous fellow that I wanted to go farther... I checked the NDL (Japan's version of the LoC) and cam
Re: How quickly they forget (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
He was definitely right when he said the iBook looked like a Hello Kitty purse.
Watched him for years (Score:5, Interesting)
Loved his gruff no nonsense style.
This week in tech, Cranky Geeks and of course No Agenda.
He wasn't always right, but he was funny.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
I don't think they did, which honestly is a shame as they had wonderful chemistry together.
Looking at his various social media timelines, he's made no mention of Dvorak's passing.
Re: (Score:2)
TWiT (Score:3)
Not everything has to be drama-filled nonsense, but maybe a different perspective or two would be nice.
Re: (Score:2)
I do enjoy the JJ Stone episodes for this reason.
I love when Cory Doctorow is on too, but that is growing increasingly rare as he becomes a bigger name.
Re: (Score:2)
Leo mentioned his passing in real time on the Windows Weekly pod earlier this week.
Leo, along with co-hosts Paul Thourrott and Richard Campbell spent a good amount of time reminiscing.
It sounds like the falling out was more about money than it was about anything else.
I think he was journalist (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Critical thinkers like critical thinkers just fine. Faux critical thinkers that only and exclusively like to shit on things and don't do the thinking part have problems with them.
Wow (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Although he was dead wrong on several occasions. He was very much anti-Unix and anti-Linux. I remember him writing that unix geeks need to let it go and embrace the (windows) future.
Stories (Score:5, Interesting)
One of the better tech journalists (Score:3)
I remember reading his articles in the late 90's and I have to admit that I got to like his style.
The one I remember the most (which unfortunately I cannot locate anymore) is an article about, well, the 90's.
The gist of it was "good riddance to the 90s". He was particularly critical of the wars of that decade in which high-tech, remote-controlled weapons were just starting to appear.
Therefore he referred to them as "the joystick wars". Too bad the term did not catch on on mainstream media.
Re: One of the better tech journalists (Score:1)
I fondly remember an article he wrote mocking the gui interfaces that were becoming so popular back then, he clinched his mockery in a story about a 'lost tribe' that was found on an uncharted Polynesian island, and they did everything as if the lived in a GUI interface, moving a pointer around to do things, etc.
I also remember when the first iPhone came out, he had his table full of tech pundits/execs, and he calls out "who has an iPhone?" And one person throws their new iPhone on the table and John picked
nutcase (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:3)
What an asshole. Chalk it up to growing up with leaded gasoline and paint chips.
Re: (Score:1)
Cite? Can't tell if you're serious.
Re:nutcase (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:1)
I didn't find shit with a web search so I resorted to asking, sigh, gemini.
Re: (Score:2)
RIP John (Score:1)
An old graybeard here always looked forward to your PC Magazine rants in the 80's.
Re: (Score:2)
He was a BBS friend... (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
His greatest invention (Score:3, Funny)
The legendary keyboard layout he invented will always be remembered. When your colleague was away from his desk you could fuck him up by typing xdvorak on their terminal.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Not to mention his important contributions to classical music.
Re: (Score:1)
I had no idea!
He is a nephew of sociologist August Dvorak, creator of the Dvorak keyboard.[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:1)
Thanks for the trip down memory lane, I made this same joke here a bunch of years ago but I can't find it now, alas.
I did find this [slashdot.org] though :)
some fun quotes (Score:5, Funny)
The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a “mouse.” There is no evidence that people want to use these things. — John C. Dvorak, 1984
Apple should pull the plug on the iPhone What Apple risks here is its reputation as a hot company that can do no wrong. If it’s smart it will call the iPhone a ‘reference design’ and pass it to some suckers to build with someone else’s marketing budget. Then it can wash its hands of any marketplace failures Otherwise I’d advise people to cover their eyes. You are not going to like what you’ll see. — John C. Dvorak, 2007
iPhone which doesn’t look, I mean to me, I’m looking at this thing and I think it’s kind of trending against, you know, what’s really going, what people are really liking on, in these phones nowadays, which are those little keypads. I mean, the Blackjack from Samsung, the Blackberry, obviously, you know kind of pushes this thing, the Palm, all these And I guess some of these stocks went down on the Apple announcement, thinking that Apple could do no wrong, but I think Apple can do wrong and I think this is it. — John C. Dvorak, 2007
The Apple iPad is not going to be the company’s next runaway best seller. — John C. Dvorak, 2010
Within the decade, Microsoft should have a minimum of 300 stores. They should do as well as the Apple Stores. — John C. Dvorak, 2012
Re: (Score:2)
I've seen his stuff going back to PC Magazine or Byte or one of those in the mid-80's.
Most of the columns I read made me think "well, that's obviously wrong, and why is he being such a dick about it?"
I guess some people like that style. Never my cup of tea.
Once I realized I was almost always right when I thought "well that's obviously wrong" I learned to just skip his columns. In my teens I thought it was wise to give everybody a fair shake repeatedly, but then I learned about opportunity cost.
To be fair,
Google OS and browser (Score:3)
Over 20 years ago he was predicting a Google browser and OS
https://tech.slashdot.org/stor... [slashdot.org]
"Google browser and Google-OS may soon be coming to a cluster near you"
What ever happened to that/
Re: (Score:1)
Chrome, ChromeOS, cloud-based Google office apps? Android?
Re: (Score:1)
Over 20 years ago he was predicting a Google browser and OS
https://tech.slashdot.org/stor... [slashdot.org]
"Google browser and Google-OS may soon be coming to a cluster near you"
What ever happened to that/
Android and Chrome
Some early Dvorak work (Score:2)