In 1996, I was a Ph.D. pupil at Syracuse University. One evening I was sitting in my agency and the phone rang,__ “Hello?”
“Is this Paul Tyma?”
“Yes?”
Bob replied in extremely accelerated English.
“This is Bob Cringely. I fair peruse 7 Java books and yours is the best.”
My archetypal idea was “Huh. He really stated my final name correctly”.
But my quick 2nd idea was that there were not, in fact, 7 Java books in existence. I did certainly compose a Java book, but to my knowledge, quarry was the 2nd on the market and equal then, I’m not certain it was the best. My Ph.D. advisor, Doug Lea, had been an first associate of the Java project at Sun Microsystems. He introduced Java (and the JVM) to all his grad students and I accept item akin 4 of us wrote books piggybacking upon the hype at the time.
In any case, as you power know, it is not average to get accolades or equal much notice for penning a programming book1. I had no idea who this “Bob Cringely” individual was, but, um, Thanks! So glad you liked it - let’s conversation several additional concerning how awesome it is!
I didn’t cognize it then, but Bob was way onward of me. It’s apt he pictured me as several lonely device geek (or “nerd” in his parlance) sitting in a small agency tip-tapping distant at several code enjoying yesterday’s pizza. (He was right). He additionally knew device nerds akin me were typically a bit starved for attention, particularly about item connected to computer-centric achievements. Again, Bob knew his audience.
He continued, “Do you do Java programming too?”
Writing a programming publish in the 1990’s afforded many of the identical benefits as today. In another words, nearly nothing. You certain weren’t getting affluent off penning books. But it did get me invites to instruct Java at several Software Conferences. Which afterward got me invites to train Java to teams inner distinct companies. Because of that, my companion and I started a business about Java training. We hadn’t done any agreement programming until then, but we’d talked concerning it plenty.
“Sure we do!”, I fairly lied.
From there, Bob hired us to build him a scheme called (or codenamed?) “Pronto”.
Pronto was to be the allocation forthcoming of imprint Magazines. The big idea was for customers (who were document mag subscribers) to instal a small daemon procedure on their device that would detect for times anywhere their Internet association (i.e. frequently dialup modem at this point) was online but mostly idle. Our scheme would afterward gradually but persistently download their next month’s matter of “Good Housekeeping” or “Car and Driver””. Once it was completely downloaded, the daemon would lie in delay until 2am the next dawn and dispatch the PDF off to their residence printer. The client would awaken up to be happily amazed by a completely printed copy of their mag waiting for them!2
Like many at the time, Bob didn’t accept that study online would substitute study a full-color, document magazine. But how that mag got to your home could change, and that’s anywhere Pronto came in.
Bob had secured backing for Pronto - from person in Japan I think. I don’t remember, but I recall Bob paid us consistently for the period it took to create Pronto. After we finished, I don’t cognize what happened to Pronto, apart from that it never released in any meaningful sense. But this did commencement my 30-year association alongside Bob (or “Cringe” as we called him).
As I said, before this, I had no idea who Bob was. I didn’t cognize concerning his claim-to-fame publish “Accidental Empires”. His PBS sequence “Triumph of the Nerds” was released correct about the period I was operating with/for him. Well following Pronto somehow I got put on Bob’s catalog of “People I’m going to dispatch my next startup idea to for thoughts” email list. I was by no method solitary on that list, and sometimes I got into email threads alongside several engaging Tech personalities.
I fair took a appearance - and I have had 320 emails alongside Bob in the former 13 years. Mind you, those aren’t distinctive emails, most are part of lengthy email chains so I’d evaluation I’d email alongside Bob concerning 3 times a twelvemonth since the delayed 90’s.
Usually, the email chains started alongside Bob emailing me a wall-of-text concerning his new startup idea. While the archetypal fractional of the email was concerning the idea, invariably, the 2nd fractional was concerning how much prosperity it was going to make. I was continually impressed at how “to the penny” he got alongside his projections for item that was basically an idea written on a virtual napkin.
Some ideas were good, and several were not so good. Through my career, I really joined him in 2 ventures - home-account and Sonisafe. I have the throw decks for a few, and the detailed descriptions of a bunch additional ideas that perchance no one alternatively has seen. This was a awesome regard in the beginning, particularly as his fame grew. But all alongside the way, I felt Bob was missing the point.
If you always met Bob - or heck, fair saw him in any of his TV specials, you could see Bob charmed everyone he met. He was good-looking, disarming, and curious. He was additionally an outstanding writer, but it was on the display he really shined. He was comforting and fun to watch. He was fearless and made group awareness special. He wasn’t a “nerd” but if, akin me, you were; he understood you and he made it OK. In fact, at times, he equal made it appearance glamorous.
Despite his innumerable gifts, Bob seemed to really desire to be a superstar startup founder. I’m certain if one of his startup ideas had exploded, Bob would have filled the function fine. But to me - he was a clean natural in forefront of the camera. I continually idea he should commencement a Youtube conduit interviewing Silicon Valley celebrities. I sent him a few emails alongside those lines, but Bob would mostly fair disregard me. He was normally too enthusiastic concerning his new/current startup idea.
When I lived in San Francisco, he and I had lunch or meal occasionally. He really was a Silicon Valley celebrity. When the inevitable person(s) would arrive up to him telling them they were a huge fan, he’d act akin it the archetypal period anyone always recognized him. Every time. The TV Cringe immediately came to existence and it was continually a pleasance to watch.
Goodbye Mr. Cringely. I’m extremely apologetic to see you go. I volition young female you.
A few additional Cringe stories
2001
Right following the C# tongue was released (it must have been about 2001 or so?), I spent the evening and into the dawn study concerning it. Finally about 2am, alongside bleary eyes and a racing intellect I emailed Bob - “Dotnet is going to crush Java”.
I got a reply 2 minutes later, “Why?”.
I spent the next hr penning an overly lengthy and terribly coarse email, in a half-awake, caffeine-induced province and sent it off. I woke up the next dawn to Bob’s new blog article - fairly a lightly edited type of my rant!
Sharper Than Ever. Microsoft’s C# Language Might Be the Death of Java, but Sun’s the One to Blame
I fair recall being grateful he didn’t citation me. But then, he called me afterward that day, “Sun is a bit unhappy alongside the blog post. I’ve been summoned to Sun Headquarters tomorrow and you’re coming alongside me.”
The next day Bob and I went to Sun Microsystems. He and I sat in a area alongside Jonathan Schwartz (CEO) and Rich Greene (C-something-else) during they defended Java and gave me nasty looks wondering who the hell I was and why the hell I was equal there. They seemed plentifulness curious in impressing Bob though. By the way, Dotnet didn’t crush Java but I did get a Sun t-shirt.
After that, Whenever I emailed him, I frequently tacked onto the base of my emails - “Do any you desire alongside this email, but don’t citation me. And cognize this email could be totally incorrect or silly - either way, it’s yours now”.
2004
In and about 2004 I was living in NYC and I got a forwarded email from Bob. It was a onward from a Producer at the TV network VH1 telling him they were doing a video sequence called “My Coolest Years” and had a particular event concerning “Geeks” and they needed a device geek. They asked him if he wanted to be interviewed concerning what it was akin being a “geek” in elevated school.
He replied to the Producer, cc’ing me:
“Sorry, but I got laid plentifulness in elevated school. However, I have cc’d my companion Paul who really was a geek in elevated school. He additionally lives in NYC.”
I ended up alongside a total of concerning 8 minutes in the display alongside Mark Cuban, John Tesh, Ben Stein, and Wil Wheaton. Bob would have been way better.
2026
Randomly, a few months ago I formerly again watched Bob’s “Plane Crazy.” A classic. And since of the comments surrounding his death I established that his particular “The Transformation Age” is additionally on Youtube which I had never seen (in 8 or so distinct videos). It’s quintessential Cringe.
[Plane Crazy] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqxU4nnLkeA)
[Bob’s The Transformation Age] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FuUcOF0WdQ)
