Robert X. Cringely is the

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

of both technology journalist Mark Stephens and a string of writers for a column in ''

InfoWorld ''InfoWorld'' (''IW'') is an American information technology media business. Founded in 1978, it began as a monthly magazine. In 2007, it transitioned to a Web-only publication. Its parent company is International Data Group, and its sister pu ...

'', the one-time weekly computer trade newspaper published by IDG.

''InfoWorld''

Mark Stephens contributed to ''

'' under the Cringely pseudonym. After a financial disagreement in 1995, Stephens was dismissed from ''InfoWorld'' and was promptly sued by IDG to prevent him from continuing to use the Cringely

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

. A settlement was reached out of court that allowed him to use the name, so long as he did not contribute to competing technology magazines.

Mark Stephens

Biography

Stephens was born in 1953, in Apple Creek, Ohio. He earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from the

College of Wooster {{Infobox university , image = College of Wooster seal.png , image_upright = .6 , name = The College of Wooster , former_names = University of Wooster (1866–1915) , motto ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

in 1975 and a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Communication from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1979, where he also pursued work toward a doctorate. He served on the "Public's Right to Information Task Force" as part of the President's Commission on the Accident at Three Mile Island. He has claimed he was employee #12 at Apple, Inc., though Daniel Kottke also claims this number. Stephens' writing as Robert X. Cringely regularly appeared in publications such as ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'', ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'', '' Success'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', '' Upside'', and '' Worth''. Stephens has also appeared as Cringely in two documentaries based on his writings: '' Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires'' (1996) and '' Nerds 2.0.1: A Brief History of the Internet'' (1998) and in a three-part documentary on PBS called ''Plane Crazy'', in which he attempted to build an aircraft in 30 days and fly it when completed. The project quickly fell behind schedule and he became angry with the film crew. Eventually, Cringely admitted defeat and cut up the aircraft. In the final episode, he builds an existing kit designed and assisted by Fisher Aero. As Cringely, Stephens produced and hosted an

Internet television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as films and television show, television series, Streaming media, streamed over the Internet. Standing in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by Broadc ...

show called '' NerdTV'' (2005–06) for PBS and, until late 2008, wrote an online column for the PBS website called ''I, Cringely: The Pulpit''. On November 14, 2008, Stephens announced that he would stop contributing columns to PBS as of that December 15. He indicated that the move was his own decision "and not that of PBS, which has been nothing but good to me these many years". He also blogged for the Technology Evangelist site during 2007. From 2009 through 2023, he posted articles on his own ''I, Cringely'' site.

References

External links

I, Cringely
at cringely.com for articles after December 16, 2008
I, Cringely
at pbs.org via the

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by Internet Archive, an American nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California. Launched for public access in 2001, the service allows users to go "back in ...

, for articles on and before December 16, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cringely, Robert X. 1953 births American male journalists American technology writers American television personalities Apple Inc. employees Collective pseudonyms College of Wooster alumni Living people 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers People from Wayne County, Ohio American technology journalists