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John C. Dvorak has died

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Re: John C. Dvorak has died

#161

Post by 93po »

bonsai_spool wrote: post #107
_-_-__-_-_- wrote: post #86

I'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-age…

Wow, you’re my twin! I’d watch these on XBMC/Xbox Media Center with some other video podcasts - it was a magical moment in tech

Same as me and very close to same age. Started with TWiT podcasts plus Buzz Out Loud with Molly Wood and Tom Merrit. On my iPod nano second gen. Got exposed to John through TWiT and startd listening to No Agenda, and still do. I massively disagree with the politics of John and Adam and frankly find some of what they say to be hate speech, and don't endorse their podcast because of that. But I still listen to it in the background and skip the problematic parts because I frankly just like hearing their voices after listening to it twice a week for 20 years.

I think John is a product of his generation and environment. Adam too. I don't think they're bad people, but very misguided in some ways. Despite that I am very sad to see John has passed. I really admired his dedication to the show and schedule for so long. He was a true professional in his craft.

I owe a lot to Adam and John in terms of entertainment, comfort, and contributions to my worldview from a young age.

In 1984, while arguing that Apple’s new Macintosh might fail, Dvorak wrote:

“The Macintosh uses an experimental pointing device called a ‘mouse.’ There is no evidence that people want to use these things.”

It's a shame John didn't live to see his prediction come true - I think we're very nearly there as AI starts to do most of our interfacing with computers instead of mouse and keyboard.

Re: John C. Dvorak has died

#162

Post by maximinus_thrax »

_-_-__-_-_- wrote: post #86

I'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-age…

Oh man, this nostalgia hit me hard. I was an avid listener to both This Week in Tech and Cranky Geeks. I remember I was watching (!!!) Cranky Geeks on my ipod when I was bedridden from surgery in 2008.

RIP.

Re: John C. Dvorak has died

#163

Post by tylerak »

93po wrote: post #161
bonsai_spool wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, you’re my twin! I’d watch these on XBMC/Xbox Media Center with some other video podcasts - it was a magical moment in tech

Same as me and very close to same age. Started with TWiT podcasts plus Buzz Out Loud with Molly Wood and Tom Merrit. On my iPod nano second gen. Got exposed to John through TWiT and startd listening to No Agenda, and still do. I massively disagree with the politics of John and Adam and frankly find some of what they say to be hate speech, and don't endorse their podcast because of that. But I still listen to it in th…

Buzz Out Loud was also my first podcast, and my gateway to TWiT, Cranky Geeks, and more. I sent Tom Merritt a note (he currently hosts a daily tech news podcast).

Re: John C. Dvorak has died

#164

Post by 93po »

corywatilo wrote: post #74

i 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 form…

Exactly same. I've listened to basically every episode since 2008, and 95% of the time while falling asleep, one earbud in. As recently as literally last night. Not really paying attention, just listening to their voices.

Re: John C. Dvorak has died

#165

Post by boyter »

etempleton wrote: post #154
echelon wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't stick around that long to see what became of it. I see different people saying different things about Leo and John. What happened?

I think their butting heads eventually got on both of their nerves. John would derail the show just to get under Leo’s skin. And Leo became increasingly ridged with the show structure. The show was losing popularity and I think some guests said they didn’t like John because he was cranky and his politics, but the real issue was probably that the studio was no longer as convenient for people to get to. At the same tim…

It came to a head with that story about the kid making a clock and getting in trouble. Leo was all in on one side that it was about racism and such, with John suggesting he fell for a media lie.

I think John turned out to be right in the end. They did seem to patch things up with John appearing on a episode years later I think "a christmas miracle" was the title, but that was the last time he was on as far as I know.

Re: John C. Dvorak has died

#167

Post by antonvs »

ChickeNES wrote: post #125
rbanffy wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His most hilarious predictions that were almost always wrong.

I laughed at one I happened to spot recently, where he confidently said that Compaq would license Micro Channel from IBM according to "sources".

It’s amusing how nerdy IBM was back then: “Oh we’ve come up with a better bus design! Why isn’t everyone flocking to buy our product?”

Re: John C. Dvorak has died

#168

Post by antonvs »

justin66 wrote: post #149
ajmurmann wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is odd. So you are saying wikipedia kept getting it wrong for a long time but now the announcement has it wrong and wikipedia is correct?

I cannot imagine why you find the statements above odd but compare and contrast: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_C._Dvorak&ol... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Dvorak Enough scrolling through the edit history and you could determine when wikipedia finally got their shit together on his birthdate.

The odd part is that the announcement used the same erroneous date that Wikipedia used to have. Perhaps someone forgot to refresh their cache for a couple of years.

Re: John C. Dvorak has died

#170

Post by throwworhtthrow »

rmason wrote: post #144
throwaway27448 wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> what was really going on with COVID Let me guess: a government conspiracy to push something pro-humanity

I didn't include the link but here is the last series part 1: https://dvorak.substack.com/p/the-covid-decision-tree-part-o... He wrote about COVID for six years. Someone should compile all those columns into a book or at least a single PDF.

Thanks for the link. His decades of tech columns were so well-served by his skeptic curmudgeon style. There's danger in bringing that persona to all topics, I now see, shown by this regrettable chapter of his blogging life.
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