David "Doc" Searls (born July 29, 1947), is an American journalist, columnist, and a widely read
blog
A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order s ...
ger. He is the host of
FLOSS Weekly
FLOSS Weekly is a free and open-source software ( FLOSS) themed netcast from the TWiT Network. The show premiered on April 7, 2006, and features interviews with prominent guests from the free software/open source community. It was originally hoste ...
, a free and open-source software (
FLOSS
Free and open-source software (FOSS) is a term used to refer to groups of software consisting of both free software and open-source software where anyone is freely licensed to use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source ...
) themed netcast from the TWiT Network, a co-author of ''
The Cluetrain Manifesto'', author of ''
The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge'', Editor-in-Chief of ''
Linux Journal'', a fellow at the Center for Information Technology & Society (CITS) at the
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...
, an alumnus fellow (2006–2010) of the
Berkman Center for Internet & Society
The Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues. On May 15, 2008, ...
at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
, and co-host of the Reality 2.0 Podcast.
Overview
Searls' journalism career began in 1971, when he worked as an editor and photographer for ''Wayne Today'' in New Jersey.
A longtime advocate for
open-source software
Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. Op ...
, he has been involved with the ''
Linux Journal'' since it began publishing in 1994. He became a Contributing Editor in 1996, Senior Editor in 1999, and Editor-in-Chief in 2018. His column "Linux for Suits" ran until 2007, and was followed by "
EOF" inside each issue's back cover. His work with ''Linux Journal'', and as an advocate of
free software
Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...
and
open-source, earned him a
Google-O'Reilly Open Source Award for Best Communicator in 2005. His byline has also appeared in many other publications, including ''
OMNI'', ''
Wired
''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...
'', ''
PC Magazine'', ''The Standard'', ''The Sun Magazine'', ''
Upside'', ''
Release 1.0'' and ''
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
''.
In early 1999 Searls joined
Christopher Locke Christopher Locke (born November 12, 1947, died December 20, 2021) was an American business analyst, consultant, journalist, author and speaker. He is known as a coauthor of '' The Cluetrain Manifesto'', and author of two other books: ''Gonzo Market ...
,
David Weinberger
David Weinberger (born 1950) is an American author, technologist, and speaker. Trained as a philosopher, Weinberger's work focuses on how technology — particularly the internet and machine learning — is changing our ideas, with books about the ...
and Rick Levine in writing ''
The Cluetrain Manifesto,'' an iconoclastic website that was followed in January 2000 by the book with the same title. The book was published in nine languages. A 10th Anniversary edition came out in June 2009. Among Searls' contributions to the Manifesto was its first thesis, "Markets are conversations"—also the title of the ''Cluetrain'' chapter he co-wrote with David Weinberger. Weinberger and Searls co-wrote "World of Ends: What the Internet Is and How to Stop Mistaking It for Something Else".
Searls has also been a blogger since October 1999, when he started blogging with help from his friend
Dave Winer
Dave Winer (born May 2, 1955, in Queens, New York City) is an American software developer, entrepreneur, and writer who resides in New York City. Winer is noted for his contributions to outliners, scripting, content management, and web servi ...
. In an Online Journalism Review article,
J.D. Lasica
Joseph Daniel Lasica is an American entrepreneur, public speaker and journalist. He is the author of ''Darknet: Hollywood's War Against the Digital Generation'' () (2005), a book about the copyright wars and the future of media.
Early years
Las ...
calls Searls "one of the deep thinkers in the blog movement."
In ''
The World Is Flat
''The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century'' is a book by Thomas L. Friedman that analyzes globalization, primarily in the early 21st century. The title is a metaphor for viewing the world as a level playing field in t ...
,''
Thomas L. Friedman
Thomas Loren Friedman (; born July 20, 1953) is an American political commentator and author. He is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner who is a weekly columnist for ''The New York Times''. He has written extensively on foreign affairs, global ...
calls Searls "one of the most respected technology writers in America."
Searls' two academic fellowships both began in 2006. At the
Berkman Center for Internet & Society
The Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society is a research center at Harvard University that focuses on the study of cyberspace. Founded at Harvard Law School, the center traditionally focused on internet-related legal issues. On May 15, 2008, ...
he leads ProjectVRM, which guides independent software development communities working on
Vendor Relationship Management Vendor relationship management (VRM) is a category of business activity made possible by software tools that aim to provide customers with both independence from vendors and better means for engaging with vendors. These same tools can also apply to ...
(VRM). The purpose of VRM is to equip individuals with tools that provide both independence from vendor "lock-in" and better means for engaging with vendors. VRM tools and methods also help individuals engage with government and other non-commercial organizations. At the
Center for Information Technology and Society (CITS) at the
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...
, Searls is studying both the nature of infrastructure and of the Internet as a form of infrastructure.
In April 2012, his book ''
The Intention Economy: When Customers Take Charge'' was published. Searls coined the term in an article for ''Linux Journal.'' He wrote: "The Intention Economy grows around buyers, not sellers. It leverages the simple fact that buyers are the first source of money, and that they come ready-made. You don't need advertising to make them."
In September 2018, Searls spoke at
TedX
TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...
Santa Barbara, giving a talk titled "The Story isn't the Whole Story:
Journalism in the digital age is challenged by a business model of automated advertising that creates widespread distrust. Truth is getting lost in the process. What can we do about that?"
Background
The nickname "Doc" is what Searls calls a "fossil remnant" of "Doctor Dave," his humorous persona at WDBS (now
WXDU
WXDU (88.7 FM) is a non-commercial campus radio station broadcasting a college radio format. Licensed to Durham, North Carolina, United States, the station serves the Research Triangle area. The station is owned by Duke University.
History
1 ...
) radio at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, in the late 1970s.
Getting rained out in a brainstorm
February 4, 2009, Doc Searls Weblog Following his work in radio, Searls co-founded Hodskins Simone & Searls (HS&S). Searls' consultancy, The Searls Group, was spun out of HS&S in the early 1990s. He is a frequent speaker at business and industry events, under the auspices of The Searls Group.
Searls is a 1969 graduate of Guilford College
Guilford College is a private liberal arts college in Greensboro, North Carolina. Guilford has both traditional students and students who attend its Center for Continuing Education (CCE). Founded in 1837 by members of the Religious Society o ...
. While Searls' permanent home is in Santa Barbara, he and his family currently live most of the year near his work at Harvard.
References
External links
*
Doc Searls's current blog
Reality 2.0 Podcast
Archive of Searls' original blog from November 1999 to August 2007
(original at doc.weblogs.com offline as of 2012–218 or perhaps earlier)
Linux Link Tech Show interview (audio), 2005
ProjectVRM
* ttp://www.econtalk.org/archives/_featuring/doc_searls/ Searls on the Intention Economy EconTalk, Library of Economics and Liberty, 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Searls, Doc
1947 births
Living people
American bloggers
American technology writers
Berkman Fellows
Guilford College alumni
Writers from Jersey City, New Jersey
Aerial photographers
American podcasters
Creative Commons-licensed authors
21st-century American non-fiction writers