Robert Scoble
Encyclopedia
Robert Scoble is an American
blogger, technical evangelist
, and author. Scoble is best known for his blog
, Scobleizer, which came to prominence during his tenure as a technology evangelist
at Microsoft
. He is married to Maryam Ghaemmaghami Scoble. He has three children; one from a previous marriage and two with Maryam. He currently works for Rackspace
and the Rackspace sponsored community site Building 43. He previously worked for Fast Company
as a video blogger. He is also the co-author of Naked Conversations
: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers with Shel Israel
.
's head office in Silicon Valley
.
In 1989 while studying in West Valley Community College he met Steve Wozniak
, co-founder of Apple Computer, and persuaded him to donate $40,000 worth of Macintoshes to the college journalism department.
In 1993 he dropped out without finishing his degree in Journalism
from San Jose State University
's School of Journalism and Mass Communications (he still has one class to complete).
(LZ Premiums). He sold cheap cameras with small or no profits, but made money from accessories.
After college he was working for Fawcette Technical Publications (as anything man - design, editing, helping plan the conferences like VBITS and VSLive!). His current wife Maryam was also working for Fawcette.
During the mid-1990s Scoble helped co-chair the Visual Basic SIG
for SVForum, and was a frequent attendee and organizer for numerous local tech user groups.
In the late 1990s Scoble worked for Winnov (a manufacturer of webcams) supporting webcam users. During this time he was named a Microsoft MVP for his activity in Microsoft's NetMeeting support newsgroups, and for maintaining a NetMeeting information website.
He later left Fawcette and joined Dave Winer
's UserLand Software
, which was a content management
and blogging software startup. He worked as a Director of Marketing. After the startup ran out of money, Robert worked for free for a month and eventually had to switch jobs.
He found a job at NEC Mobile Solutions as Sales Support Manager for TabletPC
. His job responsibility was to answer all the phones and all the emails with support/sales requests. He had started using blogs to provide tech support and listen to feedback from NEC customers.
His blog was noticed by Vic Gundotra
(then General Manager
of Platform Evangelism at Microsoft), and Scoble accepted his offer to work at Microsoft.
Although Scoble often promoted Microsoft products like Tablet PCs and Windows Vista
, he also frequently criticized his own employer and praised its competitors (such as Apple Computer and Google
). He was unusual in the level of access he offered to his users, which included publishing his cell phone number on his blog and urging people to contact him directly with issues, as well as accepting comments on his blog. His support for Microsoft in his blog, however, drew controversy and in February 2005, he became the first person to earn the newly coined moniker of "spokesblogger
."
The Economist
described Scoble's influence in its February 15, 2005 edition:
On June 10, 2006 Scoble announced he was leaving Microsoft to join Podtech.net as vice president of media development with a higher salary accompanied by "a quite aggressive stock option" offer that could make him wealthy if his new company succeeded. According to Alexa Internet
that day had the biggest traffic to his blog and PodTech over their lifetime. June 28, 2006 was his last day at Microsoft.
On January 31, 2008, Scoble dedicated all his photos to the public domain
.
On March 3, 2008, Scoble launched FastCompany.tv with two shows: FastCompany Live and ScobleizerTV. He characterizes the first as "a show done totally on cell phones." The second is similar to his previous show on PodTech, only with better equipment and a camera operator. The show is recorded with two cameras in 720p HD.
Though he no longer produces videos for FastCompany, he continues to write articles for their magazine.
. As part of his work there, he teamed up with the company to develop Building 43, a new content and social networking website.
ran an April fool's spoof claiming Robert Scoble was actually an IBM bot.
On November 14, 2007, he was a contestant on a game show
at NewTeeVee Live featuring other internet celebrities such as Veronica Belmont
, Casey McKinnon
, Cali Lewis, Kevin Rose
, Justin Kan
, and others.
On November 6, 2006, Scoble appeared as a panelist on a CSPA event called "The New Age of Influence: The Impact of Social Computing on Media and Marketing".
In September 2008 followcost.com, a website which calculates how annoying it will be to follow anyone on Twitter
, invented the milliscoble unit of measurement defined as: "1/1000 of the average daily Twitter status updates by Robert Scoble as of 10:09 CST September 25, 2008." At that time, Scoble was averaging 21.21 tweets per day, so a milliscoble is 0.02121 tweets per day. A person with a milliscoble rating of 1000 will be as annoying to follow as Scoble.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blogger, technical evangelist
Technology evangelist
A technical or technology evangelist is a person who attempts to build a critical mass of support for a given technology in order to establish it as a technical standard in a market that is subject to network effects...
, and author. Scoble is best known for his blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
, Scobleizer, which came to prominence during his tenure as a technology evangelist
Technology evangelist
A technical or technology evangelist is a person who attempts to build a critical mass of support for a given technology in order to establish it as a technical standard in a market that is subject to network effects...
at Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
. He is married to Maryam Ghaemmaghami Scoble. He has three children; one from a previous marriage and two with Maryam. He currently works for Rackspace
Rackspace
Rackspace US, Inc. is an IT hosting company based in San Antonio, Texas. The company also has offices in Australia, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Hong Kong, and data centers operating in Texas, Illinois, Virginia, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong in late 2008...
and the Rackspace sponsored community site Building 43. He previously worked for Fast Company
Fast Company (magazine)
Fast Company is a full-color business magazine that releases 10 issues per year and reports on topics including innovation, digital media, technology, change management, leadership, design, and social responsibility...
as a video blogger. He is also the co-author of Naked Conversations
Naked Conversations
Naked Conversations: How Blogs Are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers , is a book written by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, published in 2006 by John Wiley & Sons. The book is about how blogs, bloggers and the blogosphere is changing how businesses communicate with their consumers...
: How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers with Shel Israel
Shel Israel
Shel Israel is a writer and speaker on social media issues. He co-authored with Robert Scoble the book Naked Conversations, How Blogs are Changing the Way Businesses Talk with Customers ....
.
Early life and education
Scoble was born in New Jersey in 1965, and grew up about a kilometer from Apple ComputerApple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
's head office in Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
.
In 1989 while studying in West Valley Community College he met Steve Wozniak
Steve Wozniak
Stephen Gary "Woz" Wozniak is an American computer engineer and programmer who founded Apple Computer, Co. with Steve Jobs and Ronald Wayne...
, co-founder of Apple Computer, and persuaded him to donate $40,000 worth of Macintoshes to the college journalism department.
In 1993 he dropped out without finishing his degree in Journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
from San Jose State University
San José State University
San Jose State University is a public university located in San Jose, California, United States...
's School of Journalism and Mass Communications (he still has one class to complete).
Career
Scoble began his career in the 1980s helping run a discount camera store in San JoseSan Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
(LZ Premiums). He sold cheap cameras with small or no profits, but made money from accessories.
After college he was working for Fawcette Technical Publications (as anything man - design, editing, helping plan the conferences like VBITS and VSLive!). His current wife Maryam was also working for Fawcette.
During the mid-1990s Scoble helped co-chair the Visual Basic SIG
Special Interest Group
A Special Interest Group is a community with an interest in advancing a specific area of knowledge, learning or technology where members cooperate to effect or to produce solutions within their particular field, and may communicate, meet, and organize conferences...
for SVForum, and was a frequent attendee and organizer for numerous local tech user groups.
In the late 1990s Scoble worked for Winnov (a manufacturer of webcams) supporting webcam users. During this time he was named a Microsoft MVP for his activity in Microsoft's NetMeeting support newsgroups, and for maintaining a NetMeeting information website.
He later left Fawcette and joined Dave Winer
Dave Winer
Dave Winer is an American software developer, entrepreneur and writer in New York City. Winer is noted for his contributions to outliners, scripting, content management, and web services, as well as blogging and podcasting...
's UserLand Software
UserLand Software
UserLand Software is a US software company founded by Dave Winer in 1988. UserLand sells Web content management and blogging software packages and services.-Company History:Dave Winer founded the company in 1988 after leaving Symantec in the spring of 1988...
, which was a content management
Content management
Content management, or CM, is the set of processes and technologies that support the collection, managing, and publishing of information in any form or medium. In recent times this information is typically referred to as content or, to be precise, digital content...
and blogging software startup. He worked as a Director of Marketing. After the startup ran out of money, Robert worked for free for a month and eventually had to switch jobs.
He found a job at NEC Mobile Solutions as Sales Support Manager for TabletPC
Tablet computer
A tablet computer, or simply tablet, is a complete mobile computer, larger than a mobile phone or personal digital assistant, integrated into a flat touch screen and primarily operated by touching the screen...
. His job responsibility was to answer all the phones and all the emails with support/sales requests. He had started using blogs to provide tech support and listen to feedback from NEC customers.
His blog was noticed by Vic Gundotra
Vic Gundotra
Vivek "Vic" Gundotra , is Senior Vice-President of Social Business for Google and was previously a general manager at Microsoft.-Career:Gundotra joined Microsoft in 1991 and eventually became General Manager of Platform Evangelism...
(then General Manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
of Platform Evangelism at Microsoft), and Scoble accepted his offer to work at Microsoft.
Microsoft
Scoble joined Microsoft in May 2003. He was part of the Channel 9 MSDN Video team, where he produced videos that showcased Microsoft employees and products.Although Scoble often promoted Microsoft products like Tablet PCs and Windows Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
, he also frequently criticized his own employer and praised its competitors (such as Apple Computer and Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
). He was unusual in the level of access he offered to his users, which included publishing his cell phone number on his blog and urging people to contact him directly with issues, as well as accepting comments on his blog. His support for Microsoft in his blog, however, drew controversy and in February 2005, he became the first person to earn the newly coined moniker of "spokesblogger
Spokesblogger
A spokesblogger is a spokesman for a government official, company or non-profit entity who also develops, writes and edits that organizations blog. By nature, the spokesblogger does not speak for themselves, but rather, on behalf of their employer or the organization that they represent.One of the...
."
The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
described Scoble's influence in its February 15, 2005 edition:
On June 10, 2006 Scoble announced he was leaving Microsoft to join Podtech.net as vice president of media development with a higher salary accompanied by "a quite aggressive stock option" offer that could make him wealthy if his new company succeeded. According to Alexa Internet
Alexa Internet
Alexa Internet, Inc. is a California-based subsidiary company of Amazon.com that is known for its toolbar and Web site. Once installed, the toolbar collects data on browsing behavior which is transmitted to the Web site where it is stored and analyzed and is the basis for the company's Web traffic...
that day had the biggest traffic to his blog and PodTech over their lifetime. June 28, 2006 was his last day at Microsoft.
PodTech
In 2006 Scoble joined PodTech with the title Vice President Media Development. On Monday, September 25 he released his first episode of the "Scoble Show" at http://www.podtech.net/scobleshow/.Fast Company
On December 11, 2007, while taking part in a panel discussion at the LeWeb3 Conference, Scoble inadvertently leaked news (by loading up a post on TechCrunch) that he would be leaving PodTech on January 14, 2008, and was likely to join Fast Company. He acknowledged the news on his blog on December 12 but stated that he had not yet signed on with Fast Company. He did a video interview about his plans here and leased studio space from Revision3.On January 31, 2008, Scoble dedicated all his photos to the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
.
On March 3, 2008, Scoble launched FastCompany.tv with two shows: FastCompany Live and ScobleizerTV. He characterizes the first as "a show done totally on cell phones." The second is similar to his previous show on PodTech, only with better equipment and a camera operator. The show is recorded with two cameras in 720p HD.
Though he no longer produces videos for FastCompany, he continues to write articles for their magazine.
Rackspace and Building 43
On March 14, 2009, Scoble announced via his blog and on the Gillmor Gang that he was joining RackspaceRackspace
Rackspace US, Inc. is an IT hosting company based in San Antonio, Texas. The company also has offices in Australia, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Hong Kong, and data centers operating in Texas, Illinois, Virginia, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong in late 2008...
. As part of his work there, he teamed up with the company to develop Building 43, a new content and social networking website.
Appearances
On April 1, 2008, The RegisterThe Register
The Register is a British technology news and opinion website. It was founded by John Lettice, Mike Magee and Ross Alderson in 1994 as a newsletter called "Chip Connection", initially as an email service...
ran an April fool's spoof claiming Robert Scoble was actually an IBM bot.
On November 14, 2007, he was a contestant on a game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
at NewTeeVee Live featuring other internet celebrities such as Veronica Belmont
Veronica Belmont
Veronica Ann Belmont is the co-host of the Revision3 show Tekzilla alongside Patrick Norton, and the former host of the monthly PlayStation 3-based video on demand program Qore. Formerly she was the host for the Mahalo Daily podcast and a producer and associate editor for CNET Networks, Inc...
, Casey McKinnon
Casey McKinnon
Casey McKinnon is an actress, writer, video editor and producer from Montreal, Canada. She is known for her work on web series Galacticast, A Comicbook Orange and Kitkast.-Background:...
, Cali Lewis, Kevin Rose
Kevin Rose
Kevin Rose is an American Internet entrepreneur who co-founded Revision3, Digg, Pownce, and Milk...
, Justin Kan
Justin Kan
Justin Kan is an Internet entrepreneur and investor. He is the co-founder of live video platforms Justin.tv and TwitchTV, as well as the mobile social video application, Socialcam. He also serves as a part-time partner at venture capital firm Y Combinator...
, and others.
On November 6, 2006, Scoble appeared as a panelist on a CSPA event called "The New Age of Influence: The Impact of Social Computing on Media and Marketing".
Milliscoble
In September 2008 followcost.com, a website which calculates how annoying it will be to follow anyone on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, invented the milliscoble unit of measurement defined as: "1/1000 of the average daily Twitter status updates by Robert Scoble as of 10:09 CST September 25, 2008." At that time, Scoble was averaging 21.21 tweets per day, so a milliscoble is 0.02121 tweets per day. A person with a milliscoble rating of 1000 will be as annoying to follow as Scoble.
External links
- Robert Scoble - Robert Scoble's Google+
- Scobleizer - Robert Scoble's weblog
- Scobleizer - Robert Scoble's Twitter
- Scobleizer - Robert Scoble's Show on Spreaker.com
- ScobleShow - PodTech.net's ScobleShow
- Robert Scoble interview at Le Web3 in Paris France December 2007 video
- interview with Robert Scoble at Le Web 2008-Paris (with YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
video) - The Scoble Effect by Mark Fidelman