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Tell HN: Bob Cringely has died

871 points · 188 comments · paveworld

  1. tjansen · · focus · HN ↗
    Damn. I&#x27;ve loved Bob and his writings ever since I read Accidental Empires as a kid. He went through some crazy shit over the last few years (lost his house, almost blind). And when he started blogging again this year (<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cringely.com&#x2F;2026&#x2F;05&#x2F;27&#x2F;where-the-heck-have-i-been-all-this-time&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cringely.com&#x2F;2026&#x2F;05&#x2F;27&#x2F;where-the-heck-have-i-be...), the stories got even worse (lost his son, heart attack, stroke). RIP.
    1. luu · · focus · HN ↗
      He went through some crazy shit over the last few years (lost his house, almost blind)

      <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.jeremyreimer.com&#x2F;rockets-item.lsp?f=true&amp;p=272" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.jeremyreimer.com&#x2F;rockets-item.lsp?f=true&amp;p=272 makes it sound like the &quot;crazy shit over the last few years&quot; wasn&#x27;t rue.

      The post makes a strong case that the cataracts story and the losing his house story were false, among others.

      If you&#x27;re wondering why someone would make things like this up, it appears that they were cover stories for his Mineserver Kickstarter never shipping despite him saying &quot;[i]n terms of development, this project was almost finished before the Kickstarter campaign began&quot;, &quot;[a]ll these Mineservers will ship this week. Software is complete and SD cards are being duplicated. T-shirts are being printed every night&quot;, etc.

      If it sounds unbelievable that someone would make these things up to have something to blame for a failed kickstarter, I recommend reading the post. The evidence against the house burning down is hard to argue with (later Google Maps&#x2F;Street View imaging shows no apparent damage, in a later post he accidentally revealed that he used the exact laptop that he said he replaced because it was lost in the fire) and there&#x27;s even stronger evidence that a number of his other claims are fabricated.

      1. oddIdentities · · focus · HN ↗
        That kind of lying is what I sometimes expect from children under 10, it&#x27;s shocking to me that an adult with some manner of family and career would behave in such a way, in so public a manner.
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