who are you, anyway?
Good question, actually. I’m Dave Hamilton… beyond that, a quick history of current business-related involvements might help. In 1998, Bryan Chaffin and I started The Mac Observer, the best Apple-oriented site on the web. Then we hired Greg Snyder to head up our ad sales department. Pretty soon we had other Mac-based web sites coming and asking if we would do the same thing for them that we’d done for ourselves. This made us all realize that we had yet another venture on our hands, and as such BackBeat Media was born out of the combined energies of Greg, Bryan, and myself. Then in 2000, The Mac Observer partnered with the wonderful folks at Rebound Technologies to form Deals On The Web (which then became Deal Brothers, and is now on hiatus), delivering a healthy, daily dose of hand-picked deals and coupons from—you guessed it—around the web. Not wanting to let my free time get away from me, in 2005 I started the Mac Geek Gab podcast where John F. Braun and I do something akin to Car Talk for Apple users each and every week. It’s a total blast.
Oh, and at the start of 2022, The Mac Observer was acquired, but I’m still its number-one fan!
yeah, that’s all fine and good, but really who are you?
I’m Dave… the nerd. I am one of the luckiest people on the planet. I have a great family, including my wife, Lisa, my daughter, Skylar, and my son, Lucas. We currently live in Durham, New Hampshire. Oh yeah, and I’ve been a musician for as long as I can remember.
you’re a musician, too?
Yep, I started playing the drums, oh… well, a LONG time ago, and haven’t really stopped. Currently I’m playing with two bands consistently, Bitter Pill and Fling, and occasionally moonlight with the occasional theater gig here and there.
I’ve had the pleasure of playing with a lot of great musicians and bands over the years, some of whom include Jeff Steblea, Murry Woods, and Hypnotic Clambake, the last with whom I spend a few months on the road touring (and living on a converted school bus!). I also play the piano/keyboards, and though I’ve technically played that instrument longer than the drums, I’m not nearly as proficient on the keys! Also, in August of 2008 I started taking guitar lessons along with my daughter, and that’s going very well — I’m having a blast being able to simply accompany myself whilst singing, with voice being another instrument I’ve worked on significantly over the past few years.
ok, that’s cool. what else have you done?
Well, let’s see. My first (and some would argue only) “real” job was working for a little company called Citibank. There, as a member of the Home Access team, I was involved with the rollout of the first banking screen phone and their (dial-up!) online banking system, Direct Access. Then, in 1995, I partnered with Lee Robin and helped to build the Computer NERDZ! business in Austin, Texas. Eventually Lee and I decided we would both be best served working on differentprojects, and went our separate ways. Both Citibank and Computer NERDZ! are still thriving today. 🙂
why are you blogging?
Well, first and foremost, I’m a nerd. And I’m a nerd who likes to help people and teach. I actually wrestled with the idea of doing this for quite some time, but wasn’t sure how to organize it. After all, I’m involved in so many different things, I wasn’t sure if I should have 3 (or more) different blogs, each catering to a different business entity, another one for family, etc. Finally I came to the realization that a blog (or, at least, the type of blog I wanted to do) is about one person. So you get one blog. Plus, that makes it a lot easier on me.
why dave the nerd?
Ya know, it’s funny, I don’t remember where it first came from. I do remember how surprised I was when I got to Austin and found other people calling themselves by that moniker, which was, of course, one of the reasons I got in touch with them (and probably one of the reasons Lee called me back!). But wherever it came from, it stuck, and it is one of those names no one forgets. See? Now you won’t forget it either. So there. 🙂
1 Comment
Chuck Joiner · December 29, 2020 at 5:16 pm EST
Hi Dave,
I have nothing but praise for what you and Shannon have done with SBS. You asked for some feedback. I would say “don’t change a thing” but there is one thing that I think you have bordered on on a number of shows that might make the show even more useful: include two or three specific take-aways that struck each of you, or both of you, from the guest’s comments. I know that I often have some myself, but often have to go back and re-listen (when I am at a place where I can make notes); I’m guessing that yours would be some of the same as mine, but having yours might make me re-examine what was said.
Other than that, just keep doing what you’re doing. And thanks!
—Chuck