Folio, the recursively-named magazine for magazine management, has included me in its list of 40 industry influencers, in the Under the Radar category. Thanks to the Folio folks, and to Paul Conley who recommended me to them. I am honored to have my work recognized in this way.
It's no secret that, in the little corner of the magazine world known as the IT trades, we've been struggling. But that's nothing new. When I joined BYTE, in 1988, the glory days were already in the past. I loved that magazine, and I still regularly run into people who miss it as much as I do. But the truth is that the only way forward was online. When the axe fell in 1998 I'd made a lot of headway, but hadn't yet assembled all the tools, skills, and knowledge that would be needed to make the transition. Nor was the business ecosystem ready for that to happen.
The business ecosystem frankly still isn't quite ready, but I'm confident it will come around. There is constant, if not growing, demand for what the IT trades aim to supply. And we are now in a position to meet that demand with an array of information products that are collectively far more valuable than what we historically could supply. In the past I've sometimes envied Wayne Green for the opportunity he saw, and grasped, in 1975. But not lately. It's much more interesting to look forward.
Former URL: http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/2006/04/06.html#a1420