It started like this: at the time I was working at UserLand Software on a blogging app called Manila, and this was my own personal Manila blog. It’s gone through a few other engines since then. (These days it’s rendered — as a static site — by some Ruby scripts.)
It‘s tempting to think that The Thing of my career has been NetNewsWire. And that’s kinda true. But the thing I’ve done the longest, love the most, and am most proud of is this blog.
Category: Writers I Read
Writers I Read: Dr. Drang
Stephen: Dr. Drang, thanks for taking some time from whatever it is you do to chat. For those readers who might not know, tell us a little about what you do online. Dr. Drang: My blog, “And now it’s all this,” lives at leancrew.com, where I try to post 4–5 times a week. I have an extraordinarily poor sense of marketing, so my domain, blog name, and pseudonym have no relationship to one another. Fortunately, Google sends people who search for “dr drang” to my site.
Writers I Read: Marco Arment
Editor’s Note: Marco Arment is probably best well-known as the founder and creator of Instapaper, but he also has an impressively popular podcast on the 5by5 network, as well as a weblog, where he writes about technology, coffee and more. Marco and his wife are expecting their first child later in the spring.
Stephen: Marco, thanks for taking some time to talk with me. Between Instapaper, your podcast and a little one on the way I’m sure you’re busy. Anything I’ve missed? Marco: And my blog. But that’s about it. I guess it doesn’t sound like much. This is probably a good time to take on a few more projects, join a startup, and learn how to crochet.
Writers I Read: Shawn Blanc
Editor’s Note: I’m not sure this guy needs much of an introduction. Hailing from the Midwest, Shawn Blanc is an independent writer, coffee nut, and soon-to-be dad. We got to hang out at Macworld 2012, and it was a blast.
Stephen: Thanks for agreeing to an interview. I know you’re a busy guy. You’ve been a full-time writer for a while now. While you’ve shared some about how the transition has been going, I’d love to hear more about how you got the point where you felt like you needed to make the jump. What led you to take such a leap of faith?
Writers I Read: Jim Dalrymple
For this interview, I had the pleasure of talking with Jim Dalrymple from The Loop. Well-known among the Mac-savvy, Jim has been writing about Apple since 1995. I was nine years old then.
Stephen: Jim, Thanks for taking some time to chat. I suppose we should jump right in. Mind telling the lovely people at home a little bit about you and your site? Jim: The Loop is actually the third site I’ve been involved with since I started reporting on Apple. The first was MacCentral, a site I helped start in 1995. That was sold to Macworld in 1999 and I held several positions there, leaving a decade later in May 2009. I started The Loop one month later.
Writers I Read: Thomas Brand
For this interview, I talked with Thomas Brand, the fine-looking young man behind Egg Freckles, a well-written technology blog that is themed to like like an Apple Newton. Seriously, it’s freaking awesome. Stephen: Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed. You and I have a lot in common, as it turns out. Can you give our lovely readers a little of your background? Thomas: Stephen, you are one of my favorite bloggers to read, because we are both of a similar age, and appear to have a similar history using Macs. I grew up with a Macintosh in the house. My Dad says it was a 512k, but I always thought it was the original 128k Mac. I learned to write and paint on that Mac before I could even held a pencil or a brush. It was not until elementary school that I experienced an Apple IIe, Logo, or the command line. Born in 1983 I am a child of the GUI.
I studied graphic arts in college because I didn’t know what to do with myself, but knew I wanted to use Macs in my profession. I was constantly distracted by people asking me for technical advice, or help fixing their computers. I took my school through the transition from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X, Netbooting the computer labs in between classes to make use of a limited set of software licenses. Mid way through college Apple made plans to open a new retail store down the street. The year was 2003 and I dropped out of college to become a Mac Genius.
From what I am told the first Mac Genius were all Apple engineers. The second generation were die-hard Apple fans like myself. I don’t know what generation Apple is on today, but when I worked behind the bar a Mac Genius could help you with Classic Mac OS extensions conflicts, or Unix file permission errors. We were not afraid to fix beige boxed Macs, or multi-processor G5 towers. A lot has changed behind Apple’s Genius Bar support model. When I worked the bar their was no concierge. You were supposed to help everyone who came in the door with a question, and keep track of the queue in your head. There were no Creatives or One-to-One Specialists. No Genius Bar admins with an iPad in hand maintaining order. We were the face of Apple customer service, and I loved it.
Writers I Read: Federico Viticci
This time around in “Writers I Read”, I spoke with Federico Viticci, the founder of MacStories.net. MacStories has quickly become a must-read for Mac nerds. Federico and his team of writers are hard at work every day publishing in-depth reviews, great analysis and timely news stories. I don’t think they ever sleep over there. Stephen: Thanks for agreeing to be interviewed. As you’ve probably seen, I like to keep these things informal and fun. I’ve been reading MacStories for several months now, and have enjoyed it greatly. What got you so interested in the Apple universe? Federico: Well, it really all started when I got my first Mac. I was a Windows PC user, always having to deal with slow and, design-wise, ugly machines that I was getting tired of. The operating system wasn’t cutting it for me anymore, so a few months before the release of Windows Vista I switched to OS X. The computer was beautiful, the transition to Leopard painless.
Writers I Read: Aaron Mahnke
2011.07.22 Update: Aaron’s new book — Destiny: A Fairy Tale — is out. It is about a young orphan discovering his true heritage. Go buy it now.
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For this interview in the “Writers I Read” series, I got the chance to talk with Aaron Mahnke. His name should be familiar to at least some of you, as he is the man behind the Read and Trust Network, Wet Frog Studios, a self-titled blog about writing and a collection of some fantastic works of fiction. Stephen: Aaron, thanks for taking some time to chat with me. You seem to keep busy with your design firm and novel writing. Can you fill in the lovely readers about what you do? Aaron: Busy is one of those words that doesn’t seem quite equipped enough to describe my life. I’ve brought it upon myself, but I couldn’t resist — the kinds of projects I’m involved in are so exciting and rewarding. They do, however, keep me moving from place to place without much rest.
Writers I Read: Myke Hurley
This time around, I’m talking with Myke Hurley, one of the guys behind three great podcasts — The Bro Show, Enough — The Minimal Mac Podcast and 11 Minutes. He also tweets and writes at The Podcasting Project. Stephen: Hey Myke, thanks for agreeing to spend some time chatting about what you do on the Internet. For those readers not familiar with you, who are you, and what do you do online? Myke: Hello Sir! Thanks for inviting me to take part. I’m honoured and in such great company!
Writers I Read: Dave Caolo
For the fourth installment of the “ Writers I Read” series I’m sharing my conversation with Dave Caolo, TUAW news editor and curator of 52 Tiger. Stephen: Dave, thanks for being willing to chat with me a bit. I know that you stay busy editing at TUAW, yet you still find time (and energy) to write 52 Tiger.
From the outside, it seems like your day revolves around words. What are you up to when you’re not behind your keyboard?
Writers I Read: Ben Brooks
For the third installment of “ Writers I Read,” I’m sharing my conversation with Ben Brooks, writer of The Brooks Review, a great blog about Apple, tech and other nerdy stuff. Stephen: Ben, thanks for taking some time to talk to me about what you’re doing over at brooksreview.net. “Meteoric” is the first word that comes to mind when I think about your site. In less than a year, you’ve grown it to one of the must-reads.
Writers I Read: Ian P. Hines
For this installment of “ Writers I Read,” I’m sharing my conversation with Ian P. Hines of ianhin.es & intrv.ws. Stephen: Ian, thanks so much for agreeing to be interviewed. I’m a huge fan of ianhin.es and intrv.ws. Your interviewing skills are great; I hope I don’t embarrass myself too badly in this process.This series is all about getting the know people behind the blogs I love. In your Colophon, you describe yourself as a “modern do-gooder.” Can you unpack that a little? Ian: First of all, thanks for asking me to be interviewed. Interviewing others is certainly something I’ve always enjoyed, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what if feels like to be on the hot seat.