Writer & Tech Journalist
Today I’ve gone live with a new website and email newsletter platform for Cybercultural, my tech history newsletter that I started on Substack in 2019. What pushed me to migrate off Substack is its stance on hate content, which I personally object to. But over the past several months, I’ve also been pondering how to … Read more
I’m back! Blogging, that is. A quick note about how you can follow this blog on Mastodon, and about the upcoming serialization of my Web 2.0 memoir.
This week I launched a new website: Web Development History. As the name suggests, it’ll be an ongoing chronicle of internet history — but from a development perspective. Simply put, I want to describe how the web actually works and how that has evolved over the past 30 years.
I’ve been working at The New Stack for five weeks now, and am enjoying it more than any other job I’ve had since ReadWriteWeb. A big part of that is due to the team of people I’m working with, who have been generous with their time and knowledge, and welcoming. But I’m also feeling energized … Read more
Life in a time of pandemic, and updates about my new job and the status of my writing projects.
20 April was the 15th anniversary of ReadWriteWeb‘s launch, back in 2003. Usually I do an anniversary post, but this year I was a little busy with the arrival of my second child during April. Having a child puts everything in context. Just as I’m a product of Generation X, RWW was a product of … Read more
This week I started a cool new job at Newsroom, one of New Zealand’s premier independent media companies. I’ll be their Chief Product Officer for a few days a week, and also writing my weekly technology column for the site. As I noted in my LinkedIn profile, I’ll be responsible for building the Newsroom technology platform … Read more
It’s been over five years now since I left ReadWriteWeb. During that time I wrote and published two books – Trackers (2014) and Presence (2016). But it was time for a change in 2018, so I’ve started up a new tech blog. That’s because I’ve become obsessed, in a healthy way, about blockchain and cryptocurrencies. … Read more
I’ve just spent an inordinate amount of time creating an archive of all my past online writing work, in particular of the tech blog I founded ReadWriteWeb. I thought I’d outline my reasons for doing this, and why I ended up relying heavily on the Internet Archive instead of the original website sources. With ReadWriteWeb … Read more
Today marks the 14th anniversary of my first post on ReadWriteWeb, on 20 April 2003. Every year I do a post about it, but this year I’m adding my thoughts about the meaning of blogging in 2017. Do blogs even matter now? I think they do, but in an Internet landscape dominated by Walled Gardens … Read more
I’m pleased to announce my role as Tech Columnist at Newsroom, a soon to be launched news and current affairs website. Full details in the press release below. See also Newsroom’s announcement. *** February 22, 2017 – Newsroom is pleased to announce that Richard MacManus, the founder of ReadWriteWeb, will be Newsroom’s Technology columnist. MacManus launched … Read more
The tech blog I founded, now named ReadWrite, turns thirteen years old today. On 20 April 2003 I wrote its debut post, The Read/Write Web.
12 years ago to this day, I started a blog called ReadWrite/Web. It’s now called ReadWrite. Twelve years is a long time in the Internet world. Back in 2003, Facebook had just been launched from Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard dorm room, there was not yet a YouTube or Twitter, Apple’s most popular product was the iPod, and the height of mobile technology was … Read more
Ten years ago today, I started a blog called Read/Write Web. It’s the tech blog you now know as ReadWrite. Over the following decade, I put my heart and soul into the site. With the help of the good people listed below, I grew it into an independent media company that employed over 20 people. I sold … Read more
Today I part ways with the blog I founded back in April 2003, ReadWriteWeb. It has been an amazing journey and I am confident ReadWriteWeb will continue to explore what’s next in technology with the thoughtful analysis you have all come to expect. I wish SAY Media and the RWW team all the best as … Read more