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Bob Cringely Has Died

Bob Cringely Has Died

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  • Sad.

    Early employee at Apple who was offered to be paid in stock. He “held out for the cash”.

    I really like the triumph of the nerds series. Getting bill Gates, Balmer, Jobs and those IBMers to explain how it all came together and how MS who didn’t have an OS ended up getting one to sell to IBM.

    The transcripts are a good

    https://www.pbs.org/nerds/transcript.html

    by acomjean
  • A shame. I encountered his work in a couple of places (with the caveat that I don't know which Cringely was which):

    PBS website: He wrote a column that their site no longer hosts, but the Wayback Machine has it snapshotted frequently, including just after his final submission for the outlet in 2008: https://web.archive.org/web/20081223220604/http://www.pbs.or...

    NerdTV: In an era of nascent web video, he produced long-form video interviews with tech types, and clipped what might now be called "Shorts/Tiktoks" from the conversations, pulling out the of "the juicy bit" and "the nerdy bit". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NerdTV (h/t to u/Keyframe)

    And obliquely, Cringely's columns or videos were the first place I recall hearing about foveated approaches to video compression for streaming. I thought it sounded like a terrible idea, but I guess Valve delivered, 20 years on, using the technique to good effect with the Steam Frame. Chalk one up for Cringely; RIP.

    by dewarrn1
  • Rest in peace Robert X. Cringely. For those interested, the documentary "Triumph of the Nerds" is available on the Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/triumph_of_the_nerds
    by kickingvegas
  • I was a big fan of this guy's work. Great documentaries. Triumph of the Nerds was a great watch — I gifted this to several people. I also watch the lost Steve Jobs documentary every few years for inspiration. Accidental Empires was a great read — I always think of Larry Ellison doing the NYT Crossword puzzle when I read about all the Paramount drama. He'll be missed.
    by icee
  • He was a very entertaining blogger! RIP.

    However, he was also ripping people off and making up stuff: https://www.jeremyreimer.com/rockets-item.lsp?f=true&p=272

    by tuna74
  • I liked his "Plane Crazy: Building a Plane in 30 Days" on PBS.

    Watching him try (and fail) to build a composite airplane says so much about the allure of modern techniques (I won't spoil the end, but old-school gets the last laugh). I've been less than enthusiastic about modern composites ever since seeing this show.

    Bob's attempt (and short temper) reveals a good deal of hubris on his part.

    The documentary is a fascinating failure and a masterclass in attempting to salvage a show when the whole premise for the show completely collapses.

    [1] https://youtu.be/FSNzF-KSGiw

    by JKCalhoun
  • I all Bob would do would be writing Accidental Empires, and inspiring Simon Wardly to adapt his Commandos, Infantry and Police into Pioneers, Settlers and Town planners framework, it would still be enough to achieve immortality. Thank you, Bob!

    https://blog.gardeviance.org/2015/03/on-pioneers-settlers-to...

    by tomaskafka
  • Damn. I've loved Bob and his writings ever since I read Accidental Empires as a kid. He went through some crazy shit over the last few years (lost his house, almost blind). And when he started blogging again this year (https://www.cringely.com/2026/05/27/where-the-heck-have-i-be...), the stories got even worse (lost his son, heart attack, stroke). RIP.
    by tjansen

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