John C. Dvorak has died • Hacker News Board

Re: John C. Dvorak has died

#131

Post by shmoe » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 11:12 PM UTC

james_pm wrote: post #52

Sad 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.

Was a fairly big fan of his takes until then. RIP. He'll always have a place in computing history.

Re: John C. Dvorak has died

#132

Post by nosrepa » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 11:13 PM UTC

giancarlostoro wrote: post #9

For 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. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Dvorak https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dvorak_keyboard_layout

I like that his Wikipedia page really sells that he was a Kentucky Colonel. That was one of the easier titles I've gotten.

Re: John C. Dvorak has died

#133

Post by boyter » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 11:15 PM UTC

lorreyfum wrote: post #127

barney54 wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I enjoyed John and Leo butting heads. I agree that it was great. It's a bummer they haven't done that for a long time.

It was great until Leo went off the deep end and lost 99% of his audience.

When Leo cut off Dvroak and CJal I turned out. You really do need that sort of personality for people to bounce off otherwise its less entertaining.

Re: John C. Dvorak has died

#134

Post by marcuschong » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 11:16 PM UTC

I really enjoyed reading John C. Dvorak's PC Magazine column when I was just getting started in tech. His contrarian style was a nice change from most tech columnists at the time. He had a grumpy but oddly likable personality, and I even enjoyed No Agenda for a while and his occasional TWiT appearances.

That's why I have such mixed feelings about him. Somewhere along the way, being a contrarian seemed to become an end in itself. He became a Trump fan, and the No Agenda agenda increasingly drifted toward questioning well-established facts, from climate science to questioning the parents of the Sandy Hook victims. Real Alex Jones shit.

Re: John C. Dvorak has died

#135

Post by krapp » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 11:20 PM UTC

otterley wrote: post #55

chollida1 wrote: post #13

Oh man, that's an old school name. I miss cranky geeks, to the point where I've gone back to listen to older episodes.

How can you miss cranky geeks when HN is full of them?

Careful, it's against the guidelines to be a cranky geek now.

Re: John C. Dvorak has died

#136

Post by asdfk-12 » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 11:21 PM UTC

Fond memories of TWiT in the early 2000s and his longstanding media deconstruction and analysis on the No Agenda show, where they eschew traditional advertising, run on open source software, build community, and rely on their listenership (Producers) for on-the-ground information and a 'value for value' funding source for the show.

Re: John C. Dvorak has died

#137

Post by simooooo » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 11:25 PM UTC

Listened to him all the time. RIP

Re: John C. Dvorak has died

#138

Post by rmason » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 11:30 PM UTC

In the early PC days back in the eighties the bible was PC Magazine. They had a number of really talented columnists but towering above all of them was John C. Dvorak. He wrote so well, he was at times opinionated and other times intensely funny. Whether you agreed with that weeks opinion or not you felt you were better for having read it and that is truly rare.

Then along came PC TV and he got introduced to an entirely new audience. He had a blog for awhile and then I lost track of him. Then he reentered my world when he started a SubStack, actually several. One I didn't read and that was where he pontificated on things political.

Then during COVID he touched a live wire on his political SubStack, detailed why he didn't get 'the shot' and why you should too. He also correctly called out the players and what was really going on with COVID. He discovered a third new audience and became an enemy of the administration at the same time. That people was one hell of a career. He will be missed.

Re: John C. Dvorak has died

#139

Post by taylodl » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 11:32 PM UTC

First it was Jerry Pournelle and now it's John Dvorak. I read those columns religiously back in the day. I just realized I no longer read anyone religiously, listen to podcasts for any length of time - there's something about the buzz of 80s computing that has been totally lost. That's not necessarily a bad thing, I think it just means the industry has matured. But boy oh boy! The immature industry was a lot of fun!

Re: John C. Dvorak has died

#140

Post by throwaway27448 » Wed, Jul 22, 2026, 11:32 PM UTC

rmason wrote: post #138

In the early PC days back in the eighties the bible was PC Magazine. They had a number of really talented columnists but towering above all of them was John C. Dvorak. He wrote so well, he was at times opinionated and other times intensely funny. Whether you agreed with that weeks opinion or not you felt you were better for having read it and that is truly rare. Then along came PC TV and he got introduced to an entir…

> what was really going on with COVID

Let me guess: a government conspiracy to push something pro-humanity