colleagues

This book really began long before I sat down to write it. It's a product of many years and many web sites. But mostly, it's a product of conversations.

My first conversation about the web took place as so many do in a Palo Alto bar at 1 a.m. It was 1991, and we weren't talking about the web per se, but about a multimedia publication we wanted to build.

Our napkin scribbles became a working product, and that never would have happened were it not for the initial spark and determined follow through of Scott Kirk, and the ingenuity, innovation, and infinite patience of Noah Mercer. I'm forever grateful to them and also to Martha Brockenbrough, Adam Block, and N'Gai Croal for breathing life into that project.

But almost everything I know about the web, I learned at HotWired. Mostly the hard way.

For six years, I had the very great fortune to work at HotWired, a think tank, media lab, and Internet start-up in San Francisco. Everyone at HotWired influenced my thinking, and many of them will see a bit of themselves in these pages. I'm grateful to everyone who worked there for shaping my ideas and helping to shape the web, really. But there are a few people, in particular, whose influence has been deep and long-lasting.

First off, the people who made Wired happen: Louis Rossetto, Jane Metcalfe, John Plunkett, and especially Barbara Kuhr, who's been a mentor, inspiration, and friend, for many years.

Also Beth Vanderslice, who created opportunities for me and was always generous with her wisdom; Andrew Anker, who founded HotWired and never forgot to have fun; Cate Corcoran, with whom I learned just about everything I know about the web; George Shirk, who was full of surprises; Hunter Madsen, who taught me the phrase 'Dare to be obvious.' And also to each of these remarkable people: Doug Bowman, Chip Bayers, Rick Boyce, Liz Chapin, Kevin Cooke, Susan Copeland, Eric Eaton, Todd Elliott, Jim Frew, James Glave, jillo, Luke Knowland, Matt Margolin, Anna McMillan, Sabine Messner, Laura Moorhead, Mary Murphy, Peter Naylor, Wendy Owen, Steven Petrow, David Pritchard, Ian Raikow, Nadav Savio, Pam Statz, Taylor, thau!, Evany Thomas, Joel Truher, Jeffrey Veen, Kristin Windbigler, Michael Winnick, and Gary Wolf.