Bob Cringely has died

It has been reported that Bob Cringely, the tech journalist and PBS documentarian whose real name was Mark Stevens, died in his sleep early Saturday, according to a friend of the family. Stevens was an early Apple employee and is best known for the documentary "Triumph of the Nerds" and the book Accidental Empires. The thread is largely a memorial, with many commenters crediting his work as their introduction to the personal computer industry and Silicon Valley culture. A smaller branch debates whether the news is even confirmed, noting prior posts joking about his death and an argument that the claim may be circulating without verification.

The discussion

Most commenters land on gratitude for Triumph of the Nerds and Accidental Empires, because those two works were many people’s first real account of how the PC industry worked, and several credit them with pushing them into programming or out to California. The sharpest objection is aimed at the news itself: one reply links a write-up arguing that Cringely’s famous first-person stories were largely invented, and a nested comment notes that twelve hours after posting nobody had actually confirmed he died. That credibility question poisons the memorial for a few, who describe him as a Forrest Gump of technology who just happened to witness every important moment. A smaller side argument runs over Plane Crazy, where one commenter calls the build a failure and another points out the plane did fly.