Mr. X thanks for the last 10 years and for those before that. I eagerly await your column each week as I have been doing for many many years either online or in publications. Many thanks to PBS for keeping your pay cheques rolling in. Enjoy this 10th birthday. I wish you many more...
Gareth
Melbourne, Australia

Big Wet Kiss and congrats on 10 years to Bob C!!!

# I have both editions of Accidental Empires. Love them. Glad there is a new book on the way.

# Any chance of a rebroadcast or DVD of Electric Money? Weeks after 9/11 wasn't the time to broadcast it.

I hate to say it but you were right about Microsoft many times. I learned from your column more about my business than I have from anybody else, save Steve B. Keep it going. We need your opinion and your ideas. After all they are free.
Bill

Sorry to hear about the death of your son. With a two-year-old, that's a hard thing to hear about happening to anyone.

Thank you, PBS for this Cringley a place to make his voice heard.

I've thoroughly enjoyed your columns. I had no idea though that you'd been writing them for so long but your longevity just adds further adds to the kudos you deserve.

Bob,

Congratulations on 10 years of writing. I've been reading your column since 1998 and haven't missed a week. It keeps getting better and better. Maybe you'll get a week off one day soon.

Take Care.

Congrats on 10 years Bob! Your column has been a wonderful read and an invaluable resource. Thanks for the continued writing. And thanks to PBS as well.

Have a look at Bob's *second* column (http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/1997/pulpit_19970612_000533.html), predicting that the Web would supersede other ways of getting distributed objects to communicate. How right he was.

Congratulations on 10 years in the pulpit.
Looking forward to reading the new book.

Congratulations.
I can't remember when or where I started reading your work. Was it back in the 80's when I was a tech writer working in an IT department? You've always had something interesting to say. Keep up the good work.

This column should be read more. I for one enjoy reading Cringely's column because he's one of the very few out there who uses REAL common sense when approaching a tech topic. I'm from Puerto Rico and there's a dearth of Latin/Hispanic technology columns that are on the mark, as Bob's is (almost everything is Microsoft slanted). I end up reading American tech columnists which, most times, turn out to be too USA-centered. So reading from an American tech columnist who's not espoused to the "we-are-the-center-of-the-world" attitude that many have (and one very knowledgeable, too) is very refreshing. I believe this column's brave approach is the one needed to actually bring America to its senses in today's super competitive global market.

Keep on preaching, Bob!

I am so relieved!

The beginning of this column read like a farewell. And I was getting seriously bummed thinking of a week without a Cringely fix.

Thanks for all you do, Bob. Always thought provoking and interesting.

Love your column Bob, your books and your TV documentaries. You are a sane voice in the crazy world.
Brian

Dear Bob; thank you for consistently putting out a fine column. (10 years! I've been reading you that long and still find this technology baffling?) (Was that previous poster the real Bill Gates? Yeah -- he liked the fact your insight is free.) If you feel you need a vacation then go. We'll survive. Again, many thanks for this unique and inspired column. Anne

Bob, you're the copilot in many of my university lectures. Thanks for making my job a whole lot more funny and relevant.

I never doubted you for a moment. Here's to the next 10 years Bob. And keep those PBS special coming. I thought the 'Flying Machines' was great because you included the failed first attempt. I doubt any other network would have let you do that. It was kind of uplifting by the end when you got to solo fly the plane you successfully completed making. It's all good.

Bob, I've been reading your "e-column" for a number of years now and the receipt of a notification in my inbox alerting me to your latest offering is always cause for a frisson of excitement to run up and down my spine as I eagerly anticipate your latest masterpiece!

Keep up the GREAT work Bob!

DaveA
Darwin
Australia

Hey Bob,

Big congratulations. In my humble opinion, The Pulpit is just about the pinnacle of tech journalism out there - always informative, thoughtful, and interesting. Please keep it up - I will be stopping by for many years to come.

Colin J,
Melbourne, Australia

Bob,
I've been reading your column since the beginning and I've never thanked you for it. So here it is: a heartfelt thanks for sharing your informed perspective with thousands of regular folks like me for ten years. Looking forward to another ten!

Chris H.
Arlington, MA
USA

Bob,

I truly enjoy reading everyone one of your columns, not that I've understood everything you've written about. I've invested AND MADE MONEY based on your writings (go BURST go). I have introduced many of my high school students to your writings and videos and some former students still email me to discuss one of the topics you've covered.

Keep up the great work, and please take a week off sometime. But just one!

Larry C
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Thanks for all the info and insight Bob.
Your books and documentaries helped me build my career in the computer industry.

-Bret

Bob: I have been following your musings since the old days of the tabloid Computerworld. I read your columns avidly, as I sought some truth in the falsehoods rampant in "Silicon Valley"

God, now I feel old, I've been reading you since the start.

Just a heads-up on the domain thing, don't plough too much time and money into the domain dispute process, your freshly minted trademark means nothing because their registration dates back to 2003, your use of NerdTV as a service mark only dates back to 2005.

As a case, that's a non-starter unless you can show that they have been representing themselves as being somehow connected to you and, as far as I can see, they are not currently doing so.

In a nutshell, they came up with the name before you did, have not abused their ownership of it and, while there is a slight chance that they might run at the first sign of a legal process, I doubt it and the publicity backlash against such an illegitimate case would contrast badly with NerdTV's open ethos.

I am surprised you failed to grab Nerd.TV before it was registered in mid-2006.

In any case, looking foward to another decade of taking grave exception to your columns.

Donnacha

Congratulations on a great 10 years, Bob! I'm looking forward to NerdTV.

Has it been 10 years already! ... great work, good opinions, skewed point of views and all. Look forward to the next 10.
How about "Triumph of the Billionaire Nerds" in the near future?

Has it been 10 years already! ... great work, good opinions, skewed point of views and all. Look forward to the next 10.
How about "Triumph of the Billionaire Nerds" in the near future?

Has it been 10 years already! ... great work, good opinions, skewed point of views and all. Look forward to the next 10. How about "Triumph of the Billionaire Nerds" in the near future?

Please fix the Submit process; eliminate the lag or dissable the button after it is clicked once. There are duplicate/triplicate posts in every forum, this is why.

And Happy Anniversary!

Very minor point, but...

For years I was left alone to "do my thing" because managers didn't understand IT, but knew things kept humming along because of my efforts. Or at least they thought it was my doing.

IT isn't for everyone and your knowledge probably intimidates managers and they don't challenge anything you do because of that.

Thanks for all of the columns, Bob. I've changed employers twice during your 10 years (once willingly, once outsourced), but the columns always remain relevant.

We used to argue your columns along with the Great Microsoft Court Debacle back in the 90's, and much that was said then remains relevant now.

Referencing the title, Paul Simon you ain't, but I think that suits you just fine.

thanks for all your work. this is by far my favorite column and i look forward to it every thursday (or friday sometimes). been reading for 7 - 8 years.

while reading, i started getting nervous that you were going say the column was coming to end.

i look forward to reading the next 520 articles.

Thanks Bob!!!
Keep up the good work.
And even though you have always denied it I'm convinced that at one point or another your gossip column perssona was Mac The Knife. Ah, the good old daze!

Thanks Bob!!!
Keep up the good work.
And even though you have always denied it I'm convinced that at one point or another your gossip column persona was Mac The Knife. Ah, the good old daze!
Cheers!

Hi Bob,

I just love what you write. Your column is by far my most favorite coulumn/blog on the web. Keep up the good work.

I have learned so much about the IT industry and the people in it, as well as its history, through these columns. This is, to me, the best weekly column on the Internet.

And did you see that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates interview? Talk about magic.

Congrats on 10 years Bob, and I hope you do get rich one day.

I've been reading you (almost?) the entire time and I can honestly say there is no other source that comes close to providing the non-partisan and accurate analysis that I get here. And I love the predictions and business ideas too.




I look very forward to reading the next twenty years of columns.

Congratulations Bob on making it to your 10th Pulpit birthday. I've been reading your columns since the very beginning and look forward to them each week.

Your articles are often start debate amongst my friends, a learning experience in itself.

Keep up the good work.

Soyeb

What scares the heck out of me, and makes it painfully obvious that I am old, is that I remember your days at InfoWorld. I enjoyed your column there, and followed you here.

The Dead were right - what a long, strange trip it's been. So far, anyway. Can't wait to see where it leads next.

Thank you.

I also have been reading your work since InfoWorld - I can remember that back then I'd scan the magazine for interesting articles and then go straight to your column.

Today, I anxiously wait out each Thursday for a new story to show up. You have me addicted!

Thank you so much for all that you have done and all that you will do for all of us in the future.

Stan Timek

P.S. I can't wait for NerdTV to start up again!

I also have been reading your work since InfoWorld - I can remember that back then I'd scan the magazine for interesting articles and then go straight to your column.

Today, I anxiously wait out each Thursday for a new story to show up. You have me addicted!

Thank you so much for all that you have done and all that you will do for all of us in the future.

Stan Timek

P.S. I can't wait for NerdTV to start up again!

Thank you and a big thanks to PBS.

Keep 'em comin'

Craig

I see that IBM let a another thousand and a half or so people go under LEAN this week. You're being proven right, one drop at a time.

Btw, was nerd.tv taken as well?

The only problem is that somewhere around the time you "reinvented" your blog, your stories started having so many holes in them that my sole interest became how Slashdot was going to eat them alive. You really need to get a pet geek to review stuff, because lately it's not really passing the giggle test.

The guys feeding stories to you lately do *not* have your interests at heart. Get cynical or buy a cynic, please.

You're still getting pageviews from me, but you're attracting adwords from idiots. Up to you whether that's a good tradeoff.

Hey Bob,

Love your work and have been an avid reader for about 8 years! Keep it up! Will there be a Nerds 3.0.0?

Cheers!

Have I really been reading this site that long! All I can say is congratulations for keeping a damn fine read every week for that long. I've only missed it once or twice over that time.

Just Don't stop ;)

Congrats on 10 Bob. We're waiting (not so) patiently for NerdTV. Oh ya, bring back the frog!

Bob,

Many thanks for 10 years of the Pulpit. I was just reading some back issues from the archive and came across - what turned out to be - a interesting prediction.

"There is one way the NC could actually dominate, but it won't happen. If the NC people could stand back and take a different look at what they are doing, then price their machines not at $500 but at $100 or less (free is best) they could kick ass and become the new computing standard. But it won't happen, because none of the big players has the guts to do it. They are all based near sea level."
I Cringely - June 19, 1997

Doesn't that describe almost exactly this.
http://laptop.media.mit.edu/

Maybe it's time has come.

Ben

Merci beaucoup pour ces dix ans (deja!)
tout en vous souhaitant dix de plus (au moins)
Encore Bravo Bob
(And yes I'm French)

Michel

A very sincere Thank You for your insight and vision. Looking forward to the book!

Can't wait for the book. (Collection of coumns? Or on "Empirically foreseeable Accidents"?)

Ten years of op-ed dribble. I feel old. Cringely, some of your opinions were good, others laughable. Regardless of the opinion, the majority was thought provoking and inspired many coffee-fueled, across-the-desk discussions with my peers. It is good to think about my accidental profession verses the drudgery of simply pushing bits out the door on a daily basis. Congratulations on your survival. I'm looking forward to another ten years of op-ed dribble.

Congratulations on the 10 years! I've had the vcr of Revenge of the Nerds for years—I recently bought the dvd version & use it in my introductory sessions of the classes I teach involving electronic publishing. Enjoyed the Accident Empires book, too. Like your columns: among the best writing on technology I know of. Keep 'em comin'.
I was an early evangelist for the technology: I came out of hot-metal typesetting, got QuarkXPress in April 1987 and did the first demonstrations of electronic page layout (with Freehand, later Illustrator) for many magazines, printers, etc (many of whose staff I trained).

Congrats Bob!

I think I've read all 520 columns. I started coming in 96 when it was the Triumph of the Nerds site and never stopped coming back. Nobody even comes close to doing what you do.

Great stuff, this column. I eagerly await a new article every Friday.

I think the formula for your success---or at least what I like about your column---is part insider information and part keen insight. Even when you're not totally accurate, you're ideas are still interesting and thought-provoking. To say the least, you consistently offer a unique perspective.

You also seem to bring some "drama" or "flair" to your opinions. I don't know how to describe it. I'm a technology worker (as I assume many of your readers are), and from time to time get a little burned out and lose sight of why I got into this business in the first place. Your weekly pulpit helps remind me that this field is still cool and has a lot of interesting stuff going on.

Keep up the great work!

Congratulations on your 10 years. Also, condolences on the sad parts, which I missed at the time. I do remember 9/11, and you're the only one I recall who said publicly what I was thinking privately about having a remote over-ride on airliners: where do the hackers want the airplanes to go? Is that column still around? I recall that it made sense to me at the time. Perhaps the death threats were gut-level reactions that were (to borrow a phrase from Click & Clack) "unencumbered by the thought process". There was, understandably, a lot of that going around.

Disclaimer: my employers don't pay me enough to speak for them.

I've enjoyed your writing, and pontificating,for 10 years. Yep...right from the start. You haven't gotten older, well yeah you have, but you've also gotten better. The better you get the more clout you have and I've seen your influence in many ways in many places. Thank you for 10 years of honest reportage and I wish you at least 10 more.
Thanks again.
Jack Manger (who started with a Timex-Sinclair)

Well, I haven't been rading for 10 years, but I've been looking forward to these columns for at least at least 5 if not more. I just can't remember the first time I stumbled across them, but perusing the archive looks to be at least 2001. Good luck and keep up the good work.

Thanks!

Best wishes for another ten or twenty years. But, I am concerned about your not saying what you feel needs to be said. I realize that pleasing the audience is paramount; however, the main stream media have destroyed their credibilty by pandering almost entirely to the "Holders of the Gold/Power/Ideology". Perhaps a side column, several times a year, marked up front as "What You Feel Needs Saying" may help our IT gang avoid a "Detroit" type debacle where only the quarterly report is important. Looks like Microsoft is heading this way.

Congratulations on 10
(didnt you work for apple?)
Along with the rest of the comments i wanted to say thanks for keeping me informed and entertained with the next best thing in tech.
I have also spent a lot of time trying to drag education kicking and screaming into the 20th, now the 21 century. Thanks for your help.

Hi Bob. I am a 26 year old Junior Network Admin from Melbourne, Australia who saw you on "Triumph of the nerds" back in High School, and have been reading your column regularly for a number of years. You are unique in that you say it like it is, and I have always appreciated that approach. It is always great to hear from an insider in the IT industry and get the juicy goss of what's going on. Here's to many more years! *Raises glass*

Went back and read your post-9/11 column, and it rings quite prophetic. Keep up the great work.

I read your column every week without fail.

Congratulations on 10 years

I have been enjoying your writing since the days you wrote notes from the field.

Looking forward to at least another 10.

Keep up the good work.

Craig

As a fellow writer (columns, news, crappy stuff people pay for) I know how hard it is to get out an opinion piece week after week. To do it for 10 years, and do it so well, I can only imagine.
Awesome, mate!

Bob,

I've been following your column for quite a few of those ten years, and I'm pleased that you're around, even if my boss looks at me funny when I print your column out and hand it to him to read (he's an MBA, not a geek, and as such is pretty well in thrall to Marketing.)

I have been a regular reader since beginning to explore the Internet, probably less than ten years ago, and you've become my point of reference on all matters technical about computers and communications.

Congratulations, and please keep up the good work!

Bob X. C.

I look forward to your insightful and entertaining column every Friday. I usually read it with a cup of coffee in the morning, or, if your running late, with a coffee just after lunch. It's like one of those chocolate Dove Promises - one of life's little pleasure nuggets.

Like yourself, I've "grown up with" the micro computer and the associated technologies, so I appreciate your comprehension and sense of perspective. But just as important, your wit and evocative writing style have influenced my own writing profound ways. You make technology fun. On my favorite columnist list, you're up there in the top five, with George Wills, Roger Ebert, Ann Coulter, and the late Hunter S. Thompson.

All the best to you and your family.

Thanks for the wisdom and entertainment!

Skip Beighey

Congratulation on 10 Years

I have been following you since the notes in the field days.

Looking forward to another 10

Keep up the excellent work

Craig

There were absolutely no Y2K mea culpas.

I was working in journalism in Alabama at the time, and recall a number of national media pieces that identified the state as spending by far the least on Y2K preparedness. We were run down as idiot hicks, and the late night comedians made every joke imaginable about how short-sighted and idiotic we all were.

I don't recall a single mention after the fact that the state saved hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars by being smart and not flailing away with fear.

Bob - Keep up the great work. I first read one of your columns on MEMS in Worth magazine, and I've been a big fan of Microvison ever since. You are great at unearthing good investment ideas. With regards and much success in the future...

S

I am a relatively new reader to your column. I have been very impressed by your breadth of knowledge and depth of experience. Your column is one of the things that I always make time to read each week. Great job!

Congrats. I reckon I've been a regular possibly since the start. Keep 'em coming.

Can we have the cool 'pompous Toad/Frog' logo back ;-)

cheers,
Andrew

WOW!! and i´m not saying wow in a vista kind of way, instead in the spirit of telling that it seems to me like you have been in here almost since mi working life begun, i remember clearly the first time i saw Revenge of the Nerds on TV, and after that reading the Book, those 2 experiences helped me to have a very good sense of perception about the industry and made mi trip on it much more enjoyable..
wishing you another 10 years at least....
Thanks!

I look forward to reading this every week!
Thanks for the insights and ideas.

I've been an IT worker since 1988 and your column gives review, perspective and foresight like no other.

Revenge of the Nerds was my first trip to Planet Cringely. I've been a rabid fan of your work ever since.

Thanks Bob!

P.S.
Should we be emailing someone at PBS to make sure there's no misunderstanding about how we feel about your column?

How about NerdTV coverage of the Vintage Computer Festival(s)?

You are not always right. But, you aren't always wrong either. Therefore, you are better than most of corporate America.

Thank you,

I've been doing software for a living since 1981, and "Notes From The Field" in InfoWorld was always the most prescient (as well as the cleverest) column in any publication.

At one company was at, we developed the first network backup solution for the Macintosh (NetStream) and two of the pieces of software owed their internal code names to NFTF - a backup master component ("Pammy") and a slave backup component ("The Cringe"). You can imagine the icons.

Anyway, Happy 10th!

520 columns! Wow, and to tell you the truth, I am such a fanboy that I have been to the pulpit and read all I could find.

Keep up the great work. And let the PBS suits know that simply because I come to this site to get my weekly fix, that I have been all over their site reading great pieces.

I am a reader...guess I'm showing my age...I even read the transcripts to NerdTV. But that is what this column is all about...you write, we read. And we both get something good from it.

Thanks Again

Hi Bob, I've been reading your column since 90-something-or-other and enjoyed every one, even those I disagreed with or thought weren't crystallized enough to be insightful or informative. I, Cringely is the only column/blog/thingy I still read today that I was reading back then.

Keep up the good work, and I for one am okay with you taking a week off now and then (though I *will* notice the gap).

ps: I too would like the frog/toad mascot back. :)

Congratulations Bob. I enjoy reading your column every week and look forward to reading it in the weeks to come for a long, long time. Your writing and insights are much appreciated.

Great Job!

Looking forward to NerdTV Season 2 & your columns which shed a different light on the events/personalities/technologies.

Thanks to PBS too!

I've been doing software for a living since 1981, and "Notes From The Field" in InfoWorld was always the most prescient (as well as the cleverest) column in any publication.

At one company I was at, we developed the first network backup solution for the Macintosh (NetStream) and two of the pieces of software owed their internal code names to NFTF - a backup master component ("Pammy") and a slave backup component ("The Cringe"). You can imagine the icons.

Anyway, Happy 10th!

There is one thing that really causes me trouble with reading your column (and a couple others of a similar nature), I end up not having anyone to talk with this about because by the time they read it in mainstream news 2 years have passed and I don't find it interesting anymore. But there is no way I will stop reading your work for 2 years just to be able to talk with my neighbors. Thanks for the great work! If I do manage to make a successful business out of an idea spawned by you I will give you 1% ownership so you might be able to share in some of the wealth too.

Here, here MR. C. I totally love your columns (in a completely platonic way of course!). It's nice to hear/read honest common sense logic such as yours--a rarity these days.

I remember reading the post-9/11 column the day it came out. After all the hysteria, bravado and whistling in the dark from the mainstream media, a feeling of depression came over me. I realised then that Cringely was absolutely right in his predictions.

It was a turning point for me - I no longer watch any news on TV and read the local newspaper for parochial news only. My information comes from the likes of The Pulpit, The Daily Show, Wired and the Economist.

As a previous poster noted, the sad part is that there is nobody I can talk to - today they are all in a frenzy about the TB they will catch on the next flight.

I have to thank you, you recommended Apple stock once, way back when it was $15 (before a split even!) To other readers, just google AAPL to see why I'm grateful.

It's a continuing puzzle to me why you're not rich, there has to be some way to turn smarts like yours into money. Not that I'm complaining, yours is by far the best tech writing I've seen.

Great work Bob. Your column and Jerry Pournelle's are two "must reads" for me each week.

Your insight continues to help me to help others with IT issues. I find that even when I disagree with you, I have a better foundation with which to disagree after hearing your views. I'm grateful for your smarts and your sincerity, and look forward to even more of both!

Adam

I'm shocked! Shocked! Bobby X didn't offer much of a thanks to his audience. Without us, there would be no him. Shame on you!

Hey Bob – your last article had *us* worried that you were leaving! As one of the most provocative, selfless, intelligent and intriguingly objective journalists (online or otherwise) I’m glad to hear that *you* are sticking with it! BTW – you really should take some time off – I also hope that you’re making enough money to do so!

Congratulations on 10 years Robert. I know exactly what I was doing 10 years ago (I got married the day before). So I now feel connected to your in an obscure way. But being a new subscriber to your column and website, I represent your "new" audience. I've been in the industry for many years, but it was only the last month that a few people
I look forward to the next 10 years.

I remember looking forward to Fridays in the early 1990s, when the latest InfoWorld would arrive at a nearby tech library, so I could get my Cringely "fix". I bought your "Accidental Empires" book and enjoyed reading about the "most dangerous man in Silicon Valley" and how Gates accepted money from a stranger so Gates could buy ice cream. The stranger, who recognized the then multi-millionaire Gates, was behind Gates in a long grocery line and Gates would not budge until he found his ice cream sale coupon. I was thrilled to find you again in 2005. Thank you for opening my eyes to Public Television--they offer so much and I now actively support my local PBS station.

You must not be doing too bad, you live in Charleston after all. I do miss "Pammy" and the "Studebaker".

Keep up the GREAT job!!!

(JR continued)
... a few had recommend your website, when I announced that I need to understand where this industry is going, so I can continue to innovate in my part of the industry.

I always enjoy reading your columns. They are actually one of the high points of my week. Thanks much for all the great thoughts and ideas you have shared over the last 10 years.

Regards,

Jim S.

800,000 words?

Seems like more, Bob! :-)

In agreement with all the kudos. You have done a great job and we seem to all appreciate you very much. Thanks for calling it like it is, and sometimes nudging things in the direction it should go.

Hoping you the best, and your family as well!

Keep up the great work!!! You write every week, and we read!

For a minute there I thought you were writing a farewell letter. I'm glad you weren't!
Congrats on 10 years.

Congrats. I've always enjoyed reading your column. My wife and I also enjoyed your documentary about Silicon Valley on PBS.

Well done, Sir!

-john

Kudos, Mr Cringely on a job I, as well as most it seems, well done. Here's to at least ten more years of your insight and commentary on the technological landscape as it is (and possibly will be, if you keep up the percentage rate of your yearly predictions).

To those that read this comment, know that I've been keeping tabs on what he has to say for almost as long as he's had to say it here. That quest has spanned two continents, seventeen time zones, a marriage (and divorce) and the sorrow of him losing his child to SIDS. His thoughts have inspired me to take directions in ways I didn't know I could go.

Bob, you helped shaped my time at realestate.com.au with the way you spell out how certain innovations in the IT world come about. During my tenure there we managed to take the site from a local showcase of properties for sale and rent to a global advertising force for real estate on the Internet.

I cannot speak for Karl, Marty and the others I worked with there. But as for me, I thank you. Please keep up the good work. And hurry up with the NerdTV already!

Awesome. I hope the PBS bigwigs who are taking pressure from IBM read this. :)

I'm working on a new venture that I can say you inspired - though not the product - but me. Your writing is almost always optimistic, forward looking, and, heck, you're willing to take chances - stick your neck out when you believe in a great product or technology. That's a good role model for an Industry where so often the contrary prevails.

In some ways, you've helped give me the, "hell, yeah, this thing is gonna kick ass," attitude.

I look forward to reading the re-cap of the second decade.

Bob -

Congratulations on 10 years. Like one of the earlier comments it sounded like a farewell. I'm glad it's not.

I've enjoyed reading your stuff since the Infoworld days.

Thanks for an interesting and sometimes entertaining column.

Nick Hurd

I've always enjoyed reading your column, and I figure taking a few seconds to say so is the least I can do. Thanks to you for sharing your thoughts--and to PBS for facilitating this whole shindig. I look forward to the future of this column. Best wishes!

As an entrepreneurial spirit I always find your columns most interesting and inspiring. They help me to see what else is going on in the world through your research and how they apply to the world. You tend to take information and apply it to the world at large as opposed to just the technology world, which is crucial to any person looking to start a business in any way, shape, or form involving technology (and find me one that doesn't).

Thanks for a decade of service to your readers, and keep it comin'!

An opinion column is worthwhile only if it tells me facts I didn't already know or juxtaposes varied facts in a way I hadn't already thought of. Whether I agree with the conclusion is irrelevant. Bob, you meet both criteria in nearly every column. You are my favorite pundit in any field.
Thank you for all your [free] hard work.

Thanks for ten years. I had fifteen years experience when your column began, and I've read all of them since. As others have said, you talk about subjects with a passion and detail that other journos have neither the wit nor the intelligent to cover. Best wishes for another ten years.

p.s. If you find just one winner, a dead cert, don't write about it, just invest, you deserve it.

Thanks for ten years. I had fifteen years experience when your column began, and I've read all of them since. As others have said, you talk about subjects with a passion and detail that other journos have neither the wit nor the intelligent to cover. Best wishes for another ten years.

p.s. If you find just one winner, a dead cert, don't write about it, just invest, you deserve it.

May I suggest that you look at the Democracy Player platform (the platform for video blogging by the Participatory Culture Foundation, who also did http://makeinternettv.org/ to teach people how to do video blogs) as a distribution mechanism? It uses torrents to distribute video, and as an aggregator it also allows new episodes to be downloaded automatically.

Thanks for the stories over the years. I look forward to many more. :)

May I suggest that you look at the Democracy Player platform (the platform for video blogging by the Participatory Culture Foundation, who also did http://makeinternettv.org/ to teach people how to do video blogs) as a distribution mechanism? It uses torrents to distribute video, and as an aggregator it also allows new episodes to be downloaded automatically.

Thanks for the stories over the years. I look forward to many more. :)

Thanks for all the good time I have had reading your words. The best, for me, is the column you wrote after 9/11. It showed real insight into what makes us who we are. As always, I'm already looking forward to next week.

Dear Mark Stephens,
Congrats for 10 years to the man behind the curtain, or the naked guy in the Cringley suit ;-)
Ph.D's are highly over rated.

Dispite the recent articles on IBM the stock is rallying with some analyst perdicting a price of 120. Maybe there is a message in there, the powers that be must think of the here and now with no regard for the future. Is business like a professional sports team, spend for the current season with an eye on the championship and worry about next season when it comes.

I still miss Pamela

Employee #12, right?

I found my affinity for Cringley after Nerds 2.0.

Congratulations on 10 years!

Thanks for writing a truly (and consistently) interesting column - best of luck to you. Keep 'em coming!

Regards from another reader in Melbourne, Australia. As many have said you never fail to provide an interesting viewpoint, and do so in an entertaining and compelling way. It's a joy to read your words.

Congratulations and here's to the next 10 years.

Bob:

I loved your book, the nerds movies and the PBS shows. Your columns are required reading in my high school Computer Applications class. We watch "Triumph" as a history-of-computers lesson.

I'm hoping the new book and, (dare we hope new PBS special?) will provide me with more good teaching material. You are making my job easier. Maybe not the same thing as providing me with a multi-million dollar start-up idea, but I will take it!

I have been tuning in every Friday for many years. Keep up the good work.

Congratulations on 10 years! Your columns (and books) have provided endless motivation for remaining in this ever-evolving industry.

Speaking of new books, I remember pre-ordering a book of yours some 8 or 9 years ago, only to be told after a year it was never being released. I looked, and the title (at the time) was "Bit Players: How the Creators of New Information Technology Will Change Our Lives Forever, but There Still Won't Be Anything to Watch on TV". So whatever happened to that book? I've always wondered.

Best wishes and here's looking forward to the next 10 years.

-- Keith

I have to say, one of my FAVORITE columns every year is when you officially revisit your predictions and evaluate your "batting average." Lotsa tech writers make lotsa predictions, but most of them are either terribly obvious or terribly inaccurate. Knowing you'll one day be scrutinizing your predictions keeps you from doing much of either. I've little doubt your batting average is FAR higher than anyone else's for just that reason. Keep it up!

Congrats to 10 years of your site. Its a good read and I read it often and its on my RSS bookmark on my Firefox browser (which didn't exist in 1997 though). One last thing - I remember at the end of Triumph of the Nerds in '96, Bob said "see you in ten years". I was hoping last year Bob was going to air a Nerds 2.0 or some show like that. (then again, I could watch web shows though) When will the next "Nerds" come on the air? I can't wait for the sequel!!! Again, congrats!

If you're 10 years older... we must be 10 years wiser. Thanks for the top notch insight you always bring to the column.

I have pushed the Charlie Rose show many times to get you on there to offset your point about the press where you said "how easily manipulated they are by the technology industry". Charlie's smart, but he needs a dose of reality to offset the technology sector hype he feeds on.

How about a hint as to what this book is about Bob?

Thanks a ton, Bob, for keeping the torch burning!! We all appreciate your efforts.

We badly need perceptive guys like you to keep questioning and unearthing various aspects of technologies, the companies that build 'em, and the users who use 'em.

One little request is that you go through various comments posted by people on your thoughts on a regular basis and please comment on the relevant ones so that we all have a platform where opinions are not just voiced but also refined. I know that you do that occasionally but what i'm talking of is a regular shake-up of all relevant comments. That would further enhance the quality of comments. What say?

And here's to the next 10 years...

I can't really add to what the others have said, just thanks so much for your insights, which have helped a lot in trying to wise up university kids to the possibilities of tomorrow and the pitfalls to avoid.

I had to skip to the end of the column to assure myself that it wouldn't end, "...so thanks for the memories; now I'm off to new challenges at (Google, Apple, whatever...)." Whew! Glad we dodged that bullet, and that you're remaining right here where we need you!

I had to skip to the end of the column to assure myself that it wouldn't end, "...so thanks for the memories; now I'm off to new challenges at (Google, Apple, whatever...)." Whew! Glad we dodged that bullet, and that you're remaining right here where we need you!

it is ironic, i was just watching Triumph of the Nerds, had to get my nerd fix after watching Jobs and Gates at D5 on web, and at end you said "see you in ten years" and i immediately came here to see if there was any plans for a sequel.

Congrats on ten years! Can we hope Triumph of the Nerds part III?

It seems a little odd that your partners would be so worried about getting the .com - are you telling me that geeks wouldn't be able to find nerd.tv ??

Seems more consistent with del.icio.us, etc., doesn't it?

Folks @CAT (Caterpillar) out of Peoria, IL should be aware that there were a couple of CAT employees reading about LEAN and Toyota from a book. Nice to have self made "black belts" eh?

You say this guy makes "$10-$12 per month in AdSense " from a page of ads ... where am I going wrong, I get less than half of that for my 'real' site!
Brian

Bob, thanks for your insightful commentaries over the years. After reading all the comments to date, with absolutely no mention about Chase or even SIDS, I am compelled to post: Bob, has anyone ever approached you regarding your monitoring development initiative? If so, please share some progress reports. Again, thanks for your column.

Bob,

Congratulations with your 10 year anneversary!
I hope I can tell that too, one day....

Sjaak Laan

Well done Bob - you have successfully told the world how you intend to reverse hijack a domain that you have no rights to. Look up previous attempts by people like you to take domains when gaining a trademark AFTER the domain has been registered. Just in case you remove this page I've forwarded a copy on to the owner of the domain you are going to attempt to steal. I hope they bring in financial penalties for people found guilty of reverse hijacking - this goes on far too often.

Rob, seriously, your defending domain squatters...oh wait your a troll...That makes sense...

I think rob has it the other way round.. Seems to me the guy registers domains knowing that he can make money from situations like this... Or even just to annoy the owner of the name.. Go for it bob we need Nerdtv..

Thanks for some of the best columns Ive read.. Ive followed the column ever since reading Accidental Empires, and have enjoyed every one.. Heres to the next 10 Years...

Hardly a troll. Bob admits he got the trademark after the domain was registered. Therefore using the trademark to try and take the domain is reverse hijacking. Now had he the foresight to register the trademark BEFORE the domain or even to register the domain in the first place he wouldn't have to resort to underhand tactics. Just because someone makes money with domains hardly makes them a squatter. Jealousy is a terrible thing. But if you want to talk about squatters talk about reverse hijackers as well.

Anyway if any of you, or Bob, wish to come into the domain community and discuss the validity of this claim it should make for an interesting discussion. I'm sure people there can point you to the multiple UDRP decisions where this exact move has failed.
http://www.domainstate.com/showthread.php3?s=&threadid=77997

I can't believe it's been 10 years. I still remember round-filing my InfoWorld subscription when you left that idiocy and started here. It's been great fun but gad, I feel old...

At least it hasn't been dull!

I can't believe it's been 10 years. I still remember round-filing my InfoWorld subscription when you left that idiocy and started here. It's been great fun but gad, I feel old...

At least it hasn't been dull!

Congratulations and thanks for your entertaining and enlightening columns. I've been reading your columns, off and on, since the InfoWorld days. But I missed some columns a long time ago and always wondered what happened to Pammy.

On behalf of the non-nerds of the world, I want to add my thanks as well.

Looking forward to the book, which is how my addiction to your column started in the first place.

On behalf of the non-nerds of the world, I want to add my thanks as well.

Looking forward to the book, which is how my addiction to your column started in the first place.

I heard from people well-placed at PBS that Cringely is being fired as part of a massive restructuring, and will be replaced by four lower-cost journalists in Bangalore. The column will be known as "I, Subhravashti."

Trust me, my sources are unimpeachable. Except when they're not.

Bob, thanks for your unique insight and great stories these many years. I have been reading this column since day one, and now I can't imagine a tech news week passing without your commentary.

Why not buy nerd.tv, though I'm sure other people upthread have suggested this already

I also thank you Bob for your dedication, intelligence, wit, humour and seemingly vast knowledge of the world of IT.

I, Cringely is as fresh and interesting as it was the first time i started reading it many moons ago.

Looking forward to your book. Can you send me a reminder when it's published? :-)

P.S. I only just found out about you from watching Triumph of the Nerds for the 1st time. Why didn't I see this 10 years ago? :-/