James Louderback (born 1961) is the CEO of

VidCon VidCon is an annual convention for fans, creators, executives, and online brands. The event primarily features prominent video stars from across the internet. In October 2020, VidCon Now relaunched as an ongoing, free digital offering. Vetera ...

, and was previously the CEO of

Revision3 Revision3 was a San Francisco-based multi-channel television network that created, produced and distributed streaming television shows on niche topics. Founded in 2005, it operated as a subsidiary of Discovery Digital Networks since 2012. The ...

. He has had numerous jobs in media companies involved in

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and Reproducibility, reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in me ...

, most notably with

TechTV TechTV is a defunct 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming ...

and

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of '' PC Magazine''. He is also well known as the television host of TechTV's ''

Fresh Gear ''Fresh Gear'' is a television program on ZDTV then known as TechTV (now known as G4) that showcased the latest in personal technology. It was hosted by Stephanie Siemiller and Chris Leary. The original hosts were Jim Louderback and Sumi Das. F ...

'' for three years from 1998 to 2000.

Early life

Louderback graduated from

Northfield Mount Hermon School Northfield Mount Hermon School, often called NMH, is a co-educational preparatory school in Gill, Massachusetts, in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association. Present day NMH offers nearly 200 courses, including AP a ...

, then attended the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...

in Burlington, Vermont from 1979 to 1983. He graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

in 1983 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

in Mathematics and a minor in

Communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

. Upon graduating from the University of Vermont, Louderback went on to

New York University Stern School of Business The New York University Leonard N. Stern School of Business (commonly referred to as NYU Stern, The Stern School of Business, or simply Stern) is the business school of New York University, a private research university based in New York City. I ...

located in New York, New York. He graduated

Beta Gamma Sigma Beta Gamma Sigma () is the International Business Honor Society. Founded in 1913 at the University of Wisconsin, University of Illinois and the University of California, it has over 980,000 members, selected from more than 600 collegiate chapters i ...

in 1986 receiving a

M.B.A. A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as account ...

with a concentration in Computer Applications and Information Systems.

Career

Louderback started out working for Fortune 100 companies in the 1980s building computer systems and LAN-based client-server systems. In 1991, Louderback was hired as the Executive Lab Director of '' PC Week'' magazine. In his time with the publication, Louderback refined the product reviews into essential news stories. For his work, he was awarded "Best Journalist" in 1993 by the SPA. Louderback's next position was as the Editor-in-Chief of '' Windows Sources'' from 1995 to 1996 in New York. In 1996, Louderback headed back to Boston to become the Vice President and Editorial Director at ''PC Week''. In 1997, Louderback headed out to

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

to be Vice President and Editorial Director of

ZDTV TechTV is a defunct 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. In 2004, it merged with the G4 gaming channel which ultimately dissolved TechTV programming ...

(later

), the first 24-hour technology television channel. He was in charge of the program content for the channel. He also appeared in numerous segments on the network, and hosted the ''

'' show for three years. In 1999, he developed the "Best of CES" awards program for the CES trade show. This program judges new products on the trade show floor and still continues to this day. Louderback developed a daily 8-hour live TechTV news program called '' TechLive'' in 2000. The show supplied viewers with a steady stream of market news, technology reporting, product information, and CEO interviews. Louderback became Editor-In-Chief for

Ziff Davis Media Ziff Davis, Inc. is an American digital media and internet company. First founded in 1927 by William Bernard Ziff Sr. and Bernard George Davis, the company primarily owns technology-oriented media websites, online shopping-related services, a ...

's internet properties in 2002, he managed PCMag.com, eWeek and Microsoft Watch. He was promoted to Senior Vice President and Editor in Chief of PC Magazine in the fall of 2005 where he managed '' DL.TV'', '' Cranky Geeks'', and

ExtremeTech ExtremeTech is a technology weblog, launched in June 2001, which focuses on hardware, computer software, science and other technologies. Between 2003 and 2005, ExtremeTech was also a print magazine and the publisher of a popular series of how- ...

, TechnoRide, GearLog, and Smart Company. He also did a weekly podcast along with Patrick Norton called ''What's New Now'' as well as a video podcast called ''DL.TV''. In 2007, he wrote "The iPhone is deeply flawed. Apple will sell lots at first and then sales will plummet." On July 10, 2007, Louderback became CEO of

. After 7 years, Louderback resigned to focus efforts on a book about being a first time CEO. On August 29, 2017, Louderback was named as CEO of

, replacing VidCon co-founder

Hank Green William Henry Green II (born May 5, 1980) is an American vlogger, science communicator, entrepreneur, author, internet producer, and musician. He is known for producing the YouTube channel Vlogbrothers with his older brother, author John Green ...

. Louderback had served as editorial director of VidCon's industry programming track for the last three years.

Books

Louderback is the author of the book ''TechTV

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washin ...

(R)

Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...

for Home Users''.

Contributor

Since early 2011, Louderback has been one of the featured " CoolHotNot Tech Xperts," along with John C. Dvorak, Chris Pirillo,

Dave Graveline Dave Graveline is an American radio talk show host. His syndicated show " Into Tomorrow" has been on the air since 1996 and currently airs on over 100 AM and FM stations throughout the U.S., stations in Canada and on the Armed Forces Network ...

Robin Raskin Robin Raskin (born May 14, 1954) is an American writer, author, publisher, TV personality and conference and events creator best known for her ability to simplify technology for non-technologists. Early publications Raskin began writing about tec ...

, Dave Whittle, Steve Bass, and Cheryl Currid. At CoolHotNot's web site, Dvorak and rest of the Tech Xperts used to share their "Loved List" of favorite consumer electronics, their "Wanted List" of tech products they would like to try, and their "Letdown List" of tech products they found disappointing.

References

External links