# My Friend Bob Cringely > Paul Tyma recalls his 30-year friendship with tech icon Bob Cringely, who inspired countless tech careers before his death. - Title: My Friend Bob Cringely · Paul Tyma’s Blog | Shortify - Summary: 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… - Keywords: bob cringely, paul tyma, java, sun microsystems, tech careers, startup ideas, tech influencers, technology, startups, Friend, Bob, Cringely - Source: Paul Tyma’s Blog — https://tyma.com/my-cringe-story - Published: 2026-10-20T00:00:00+00:00 - Read time: 1 min - Topics: bob cringely, paul tyma, java, sun microsystems, tech careers, startup ideas, tech influencers, technology, startups ## 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 ## Key takeaway Paul Tyma reflects on 30 years of friendship with Bob Cringely, a tech influencer who inspired many to pursue tech careers.