This is a follow-up to a piece by Daniel P. Dern in the same magazine, 6 years earlier… now discussing my transition to water with the Microship project. In real life, I had just set up a lab on Camano Island, Washington, and assumed that we would be setting out on the new expedition within…

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In early 1998, I bought a house with six wooded acres on Camano Island, Washington… ready to have my own workspace after many years moving in and out of borrowed labs (Apple, UCSD, Sun Microsystems, Borland International, friend’s houses…). Almost immediately, my partner and I began putting up a 3000 square foot pole building in…

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by Steven K. Roberts Microship Status Report #127 Nomadic Research Labs Camano Island, Washington November 19, 1998 “It takes a village to build a boat.” — Tim Nolan, referring to the ever-growing volunteer population on the Microship project Hello from the Microship lab! Lots of progress on many fronts… with two test sails now behind us, there…

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ITX2 – Seattle Center November 13-14, 1998 Keynote Speaker: Steven K. Roberts world traveler and creator of gadgets Years ago, Steve Roberts quit his job, sold his house and embarked on a journey across America with a homemade, computerized bicycle. He has logged over 17,000 miles with BEHEMOTH, which weighs 400 pounds, requires 105 gears…

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This was an insanely intense time… with a film crew from Canada, we did the last-minute push to get the Microship ready for its first-ever launch, at the Sea Kayak Symposium in Port Townsend. Like trade-show deadlines, this had a galvanizing effect, compounded by being on camera. The piece opens with a wonderful video 3.5-minute…

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This article was written a few months after the move from the Silicon Valley lab sponsored by Apple. In March of 1998 Lisa and I had landed in the house on Camano Island, and immediately put up a 3,000 square-foot pole building in the 6-acre forest (with a contractor erecting the physical structure). It was…

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by Steven K. Roberts Microship Status Report #125 Nomadic Research Labs Camano Island, Washington August 24, 1998 “Don’t get mad; get nomadic!” Dan Burdick THE BUILDING IS DONE! I never believed we’d reach this point, actually. Eight months have passed since we rumbled out of Silicon Valley with three trucks and two trailers, bound for…

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I was delighted to have a 2-page spread in this 1998 Prentice-Hall textbook aimed at computer literacy and information technology… as an old drop-out, it has always felt subversive to see my technomadic adventure taught to students. In the decades since, physical location has indeed become much less relevant; it is hard to remember how…

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Steven Roberts A Pioneer of Technomadics Steve Roberts is a high-tech creative genius and problem solver. From 1983 to 1991, he pedaled 17,000 miles around the country on a computerized and networked recumbent bicycle that allowed him to remain connected and productive while wandering freely. During 1997, he set aside the bicycle to work on…

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(excerpt) by Michael ShapiroYahoo! Internet LifeJune, 1998 This piece from Yahoo’s internet lifestyle magazine featured a number of us who were using the Internet while traveling full-time. The story introduced: Here’s my bit… And a flashback in the form of part of the magazine cover… back in the days when there were print publications about…

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