When Apple began its meteoric rise in Silicon Valley with the Macintosh computer in 1984, one skeptic was especially vocal.
In a 1984 column for the San Francisco Examiner, John C. Dvorak had questions. He was particularly leery of the "experimental pointing device called a 'mouse,'" he wrote. "There is no evidence that people want to use these things."
That contrarianism was emblematic of Dvorak's career in technology journalism dating back to the early 1980s. As the columnist expanded into radio and podcasting, he made no secret of his skepticism about emerging technologies like the iPhone, which he famously wrote in a 2007 MarketWatch column that Apple should "pull the plug on" due to competition.
But after Dvorak died at his home in Albany on July 20 at age 80, tributes poured in from around the industry.
"For decades starting at the advent of microcomputers, Dvorak was a leading advocate for the empowerment and business of computing," Steve Sinofsky, former president of the Windows Division at Microsoft, wrote in a tribute posted to X. "His writing was truly a voice of the PC generation."
"No Agenda," the cultural podcast Dvorak co-hosted with pioneering podcaster and announcer Adam Curry, announced his death in its newsletter published July 22. The cause of death was not disclosed.
"For a man who spent decades famously predicting the catastrophic demise of almost every major technological innovation, it is with the heaviest of hearts we must announce that John's own hardware finally gave out on Monday morning, July 20th, 2026, at the age of 80," the newsletter read. "He went peacefully, albeit suddenly, with Mimi at his side, critiquing the acting and story line of NCIS."
Dvorak was born April 5, 1946 in Fresno and attended UC Berkeley. He was a nephew of August Dvorak, the creator of the Dvorak keyboard layout.
John Dvorak got his start as a journalist writing about wine, but it was his commentary on technology that made him a prominent name in the then-new industry of tech in the 1980s.
He was best known for his columns at InfoWorld and PC Magazine, especially "Inside Track" about personal computers, or PCs. But he also wrote for a lengthy list of other publications, including the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Examiner.
"John was highly opinionated and could be acerbic, but you always knew where you stood with him, even when we disagreed," fellow tech journalist and UC Berkeley alumnus Larry Magid, who worked with Dvorak at InfoWorld, wrote on Facebook. "He wasn't afraid to challenge conventional wisdom - or his colleagues."
In 2007, Dvorak became vice president of San Francisco-based entertainment network Mevio, founded by Curry. That same year, the two began co-hosting "No Agenda," which focused on questioning mainstream media. Episodes were released every Thursday and Sunday.
Episode 1,888 - a figure the newsletter said was Dvorak's favorite number - was released July 24, as the first episode since his death.
"Like thousands of others, he taught me how to question everything, even the absurd, which would often require a theremin," Curry said on the podcast, describing his former co-host as a "father figure."
Curry co-hosted the episode, titled "In the Mourning," with Dvorak's widow, Mimi Smith-Dvorak, among the many friends and family members who shared stories about Dvorak throughout the six-hour-long episode.
"John was big about family," Smith-Dvorak said. "For as long as I've known him, we had to have family sit-down dinners."
Dvorak's family will share memorial details at a later date, his stepson Aric Mackey said in a statement.
In the meantime, Curry plans for "No Agenda" to continue.
"This family, this community that we built with him is too big and too vast to end," Curry said on Friday's podcast. "And while I'm not exactly sure how we will move forward from here without him, today and on Sunday's show, just like any family, we will honor the man who we loved, who we cherished, who we laugh with, and all valued as being part of our lives."
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This article originally published at John C. Dvorak, podcaster and tech journalist who doubted the mouse and iPhone, dies at 80.