Steve, Author at Nomadic Research Labs

After the Computing Across America phase (10,000 miles with the Winnebiko), I returned to Columbus to finish the book, deal with publishing hell, and resume freelancing. I rented an apartment, and really had no idea what would come next… but quickly found myself back in hand-to-mouth freelancing mode. An optical disc startup was just flickering to…

Dataspace by Steven K. Roberts Link-Up January, 1986 Packet communications technology is a marriage of computers and amateur radio. The last time I signed on, I decided to go for distance. Sounds a bit strange doesn’t it? Physical location is usually irrelevant online, for the network is one of those vaporous places that is every place…

This was one of my rare forays into the in-flight magazines, published in the interlude between the Winnebiko and the Winnebiko II. The photo was taken during my book-writing layover in San Clemente, California. This version of the bike was lean and well-tuned, fresh from 10,000 miles on the road. That fabric enclosure in the…

by Steven K. Roberts Information Today December, 1985 This industry has a serious problem. It’s called “marketing.” Selling information is not at all like selling widgets—this business offers intangible services that mean something different to every potential customer. Vaporous goods are hard to price and still harder to sell. The traditional marketing strategy among widget manufacturers…

Dataspace by Steven K. Roberts Link-Up December, 1985 If you have ever experienced the hiring process, you already know the problem. Hidden somewhere out there in the teeming masses are a few prize catches; scattered across the land are myriad companies who need them in their endless quest for the competitive edge. The process of…

Steve Roberts and Winnebiko at Maroon Bells - Jeffrey Aaronson, Aspen

I wrote this after the first 10,000 miles but before launching the Winnebiko II project, so it’s a nice perspective on my newly minted technomadic life, more philosophical than technical. The photo above is by Jeffrey Aaronson, taken at the Maroon Bells near Aspen on September 15, 1984. by Steven K. Roberts Link-Up November, 1985 I…

by Steven K. Roberts Information Today November, 1985 Powerful portables. Hi-res graphics. Macs. Microdisks. Much has happened since the prehistoric personal computer era of a decade ago, and more wonders lie ahead. What will the next ten years bring? Any exploration of future computer technology is subject to considerable uncertainty, especially now that we are on…

This local production in Columbus contains a shortened version of a treasure, produced by Richard Hart for Evening Magazine in San Francisco. Bracketed by a short local-angle interview with a blush-inducing paragraph from the manuscript, the result captures a strange time in my life… back in Ohio after almost ten thousand miles around the US,…

This was a glimpse of a mercifully brief period, just after the first 10,000 miles, when I thought I’d be taking off around the US in a motorhome. I was still working on the Computing Across America book (with editorial musical chairs causing a publishing-industry horror story), and had plans to go mobile with my…

This entertaining article in a British bicycling magazine was written during my layover at the end of the first 10,000 miles, when I was holed up in San Clemente writing Computing Across America. My parents were somewhat distressed by the title, but I reassured them that “low life” has a different connotation across the pond.…

Posts by Steve

My Brief Employment at Discovery Systems

Online and On the Air – Link-Up

Computing Across America – Southwest Airlines Spirit

Online Services – Offline Marketing

Electronic Bodysnatching

Life in Dataspace

The Future of Computing

Winnebiko on PM Magazine

Cross-country biker to motor this time

High-Tech Low-Life… Bicycle Magazine (UK)