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Jason Snell (born October 6, 1970 in
Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
) is an American writer, editor, and podcaster who covers technology—heavily focused on
Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...
's
Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...
computers, iPhones, and services—and pop culture. Snell was an early Internet publisher, producing the fiction journal ''InterText'', as well as creating or editing several other early Internet magazines and websites. He served in a variety of editorial positions at IDG during more than 25 years, including as editor-in-chief of ''
Macworld ''Macworld'' is a digital magazine and website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG. History ''Macworld'' was founded by David Bunnell and Cheryl Woodard (publishers) and Andrew Fl ...
'' magazine, ultimately becoming senior vice president of IDG Consumer & Small Business Publishing (CSMB). He continues to write a weekly column at Macworld. In 2014 Snell left ''Macworld'' and created Six Colors, a website that covers technology and Apple products. He owns and operates the podcast network, The Incomparable, focused on panel discussions of pop-culture, as well as a dedicated game-show podcast.


Biography

Snell grew up in
Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...
, California, graduating from Sonora Union High School in 1988. He attended Revelle College at the
University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...
, working for three years on the staff of the ''
UCSD Guardian The ''UCSD'' ''Guardian'' is a student-operated newspaper at the University of California, San Diego. Originally named the ''Triton Times'', it is published once a week during the regular academic year, usually Mondays. Although ''The Guardian' ...
'' newspaper. In 1991, while at UCSD, Snell founded ''InterText'', an early Internet-based magazine, which was originally distributed via FTP and e-mail in plain-text and PostScript formats. ''InterText'' published hundreds of short stories in various genres until it ceased publication in 2004. Snell later served on the board of the
National Novel Writing Month National Novel Writing Month, often shortened to NaNoWriMo ( ), was a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that promoted creative writing around the world. Its flagship program was an annual, international creative writing event in which participa ...
, from 2011–2017. Snell graduated in 1992 with a degree in Communication. In 1994 he received a master's degree from the
Graduate School of Journalism Graduate may refer to: Education * The subject of a graduation, i.e. someone awarded an academic degree ** Alumni, a former student who has either attended or graduated from an institution * High school graduate, someone who has completed high ...
at the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
.


Technology journalism

In 1994 Snell began working at the U.S. edition of ''
MacUser ''MacUser'' was a monthly (formerly biweekly) computer magazine published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. and licensed by Felden in the UK. It ceased publication in 2015. In 1985 Felix Dennis’ Dennis Publishing, the creators of MacUser in the UK, l ...
'' magazine, beginning his career writing about the
Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...
computer. When MacUser was bought and absorbed into
Macworld ''Macworld'' is a digital magazine and website dedicated to products and software of Apple Inc., published by Foundry, a subsidiary of IDG. History ''Macworld'' was founded by David Bunnell and Cheryl Woodard (publishers) and Andrew Fl ...
in 1997, Snell moved with the magazine. Within a few years, he became the lead editor of Macworld, and eventually became senior vice president at the magazine's publisher IDG. During this period, in 2006, the MDJ Power 25, a poll of Mac-industry-watchers, named him the 6th most powerful/influential person in the world of Macintosh computing. After multiple rounds of layoffs during a downturn in tech publishing, Snell departed the company in 2014. In 1996, he co-founded Internet humor and commentary site TeeVee.org, which lives on through a podcast of the same name. Following Snell's 2014 departure from Macworld and IDG, he created and launched Six Colors, a members-supported editorial website where he and his former Macworld colleague Dan Moren write about technology, Apple products, and podcasting.


Podcasting

In 2010 Snell began host and producing ''The Incomparable'' podcast, a weekly panel show discussing science-fiction, fantasy, and more general geek-culture television shows, movies, comic books, and books. The show soon expanded into an eponymous network which hosts more than twenty shows from a variety of contributors. The Incomparable won the Parsec Award for Best Speculative Fiction Fan or News Podcast in 2012, 2015, and 2016. Snell also co-hosts the Relay FM podcasts ''Liftoff'', ''Upgrade'', and ''Downstream''.


Personal life

He lives in
Mill Valley, California Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Mill Valley is lo ...
, with his wife. He has two children.


References


External links


InterText
(published 1991–2004)
Quanta
(published 1989–1995)
Athene
(published 1989–1990)
FSFnet
(published 1985–1988)
Tech Talk for Families InterviewSix Colors websiteThe Incomparable podcast network
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snell, Jason 1970 births Living people American magazine editors American online publication editors American bloggers Writers from Oakland, California American reporters and correspondents UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism alumni University of California, San Diego alumni American podcasters 21st-century American non-fiction writers People from Sonora, California