From Paul Tyma’s Blog · · 1m 50s
My Friend Bob Cringely
Paul Tyma recalls his 30-year friendship with tech icon Bob Cringely, who inspired countless tech careers before his death.
In brief
Paul Tyma recalls his 30-year friendship with tech icon Bob Cringely, who inspired countless tech careers before his death. Paul Tyma reflects on 30 years of friendship with Bob Cringely, a tech influencer who inspired many to pursue tech careers. Originally reported by Paul Tyma’s Blog.
1996 Ph.D. student
In 1996, Paul Tyma was a Ph.D. student at Syracuse University when Bob Cringely called him.
“Hello? Is this Paul Tyma? Yes?”
Bob's Java praise
Bob Cringely claimed Paul Tyma's Java book was the best among 7 books he read.
“This is Bob Cringely. I just read 7 Java books and yours is the best.”
Java book reality
Paul Tyma wrote the second Java book on the market, not the best, and doubted Bob's claim.
“I did indeed write a Java book, but to my knowledge, mine was the 2nd on the market and even then, I’m not sure it was the best.”
Ph.D. advisor connection
Paul Tyma's Ph.D. advisor, Doug Lea, was an early Java project member at Sun Microsystems.
“My Ph.D. advisor, Doug Lea, had been an early member of the Java project at Sun Microsystems.”
Pronto project
Bob Cringely hired Paul Tyma to build 'Pronto', a system to deliver print magazines digitally.
“Bob hired us to build him a system called (or codenamed?) 'Pronto'.”
Pronto's purpose
Pronto would download next month's magazine issue when internet was idle and print it at 2am.
“Our system would then slowly but persistently download their next month’s issue of 'Good Housekeeping' or 'Car and Driver'.”
Pronto funding
Bob secured funding for Pronto from someone in Japan, but the project never released.
“Bob had secured funding for Pronto - from someone in Japan I think.”
30-year friendship
Paul Tyma had 320 emails with Bob Cringely over 13 years, mostly about startup ideas.
“I have had 320 emails with Bob in the past 13 years.”
Bob's startup ideas
Bob Cringely sent detailed startup ideas with precise financial projections to Paul Tyma.
“While the first half of the email was about the idea, invariably, the 2nd half was about how much money it was going to make.”
Two ventures with Bob
Paul Tyma joined Bob Cringely in two startups: home-account and Sonisafe.
“Through my career, I actually joined him in 2 ventures - home-account and Sonisafe.”
Bob's charisma
Bob Cringely charmed audiences with his tech passion, good looks, and ability to make tech feel glamorous.
“He was good-looking, disarming, and curious. He was also an excellent writer, but it was on the screen where he really shined.”
Bob's influence
Bob Cringely inspired many to pursue tech careers and was a tech influencer before his death.
“Bob changed people’s lives. His love for Technology was contagious and he inspired a lot of people to pursue a career in Tech.”
2001 C# conflict
In 2001, Paul Tyma emailed Bob about C# potentially squishing Java, leading to a Sun Microsystems meeting.
“Dotnet is going to squish Java”
Sun Microsystems meeting
Paul Tyma and Bob met Sun Microsystems executives to defend Java against C# competition.
“He and I sat in a room with Jonathan Schwartz (CEO) and Rich Greene (C-something-else) while they defended Java”
At a glance
Paul Tyma reflects on 30 years of friendship with Bob Cringely, a tech influencer who inspired many to pursue tech careers.
