David Pogue

New York Times Technology Columnist

Disruptive Tech: What's New, What's Coming, and How It Will Change Everything

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David Pogue is the personal-technology columnist for The New York Times. He contributes a print column titled "State of the Art," which appears every Thursday on the front page of the Business section, an online column, a popular daily blog "Pogue's Posts", and his double award winning, very silly, Times Web videos.

David is also an Emmy award-winning tech correspondent for CBS News, and he appears each week on CNBC with his trademark comic tech videos.

With over 3 million books in print, David is one of the world's bestselling how-to authors. He wrote or co-wrote seven books in the for Dummies series (including Macs, Magic, Opera, and Classical Music); in 1999, he launched his own series of complete, funny computer books called the Missing Manual series, which now includes over 100 titles. He is also the author of The World According to Twitter, a wildly popular anthology.

David graduated summa cum laude from Yale in 1985, with distinction in Music, and he spent ten years conducting and arranging Broadway musicals in New York. In 2007, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in music from Shenandoah Conservatory. He's been profiled on both 48 Hours and 60 Minutes. In February 2011 David hosts the four-part PBS NOVA miniseries Making Stuff about the latest in cutting-edge materials science.

David Pogue Speech Topics

*David concludes most speeches with a few of his trademark hilarious tech parody songs.

Disruptive Tech: What's New, What's Coming, and How It Will Change Everything

As The New York Times's tech reviewer, David Pogue has a front-row seat for observing the blazing-fast torrent of new inventions. Hundreds of gadgets and technologies come down the pike every year, and plenty get lots of press--but most of it's junk. But in this fast, funny presentation, Pogue will stick his neck out to predict which will actually cause major, disruptive changes. He'll display, discuss, and even demonstrate the technological advances -- in personal entertainment, cellular tech, Web 2.0, and more -- that will have the most impact on society in the coming years.

Web 2.0, Social Media, and Other Buzzwords

What do YouTube, MySpace, eBay, and Craigslist have in common? They're all part of "Web 2.0," in which a Web site's material is supplied by its visitors. What do blogs, vlogs, and podcasts have in common? They're all new ways for individuals -- and even corporations -- to express themselves online. In this head-spinning talk, David Pogue, The New York Times's most popular blogger (and first video blogger), helps to make sense of the explosively expanding realm of Web 2.0 and all kinds of 'casting. He'll advise both individuals and companies on how to exploit these live-wire technologies, supply some horrifying and hilarious real-world stories, and hint at the future, the pitfalls, and the rewards of these revolutionary new channels.

Dave's Mobile Show-and-Tell

David Pogue reviews over 200 products a year for The New York Times. If anyone can identify the breakthroughs, he can.
In this lively presentation -- half talk, half magic show -- David will present and actually demonstrate the latest and most amazing mobile gadgets, and offer his mini-critiques of each. The assortment changes monthly, of course, but past presentations have included the cellphone that offers unlimited free calls via Wi-Fi; the pocket camera that beams photos instantly onto Flickr; the music player that downloads wirelessly from a catalog of 2 million songs; a folding memory card for cameras that eliminates the need for wires or card readers; the secret of getting Directory Assistance for free on your cellphone (rather than $2 per call from your carrier); the latest breakthroughs in speech recognition; and, of course, the iPhone. Prepare to have your mind blown -- and your credit card stressed.

The Power of Simplicity

Why are consumers so fed up with their computers? "Software rage" has become an epidemic, help lines are flooded, and people are flinging their machines out the window in frustration. More often than not, the problem is the software design itself -- the interface. The design of programs and Web sites grows in importance every day. Getting it right -- packing a lot of features, the right way, into a small screen area -- is extremely difficult, and the masters of the art are few and far between. But David Pogue, who analyzes software design each week in his New York Times column, has found some fascinating real-world examples that illustrate both clever solutions and horrifying failures. He'll also look forward to interface design of the future -- speech, animation, and other innovations -- as we move into an era of both much bigger and much smaller screens.

The Digital Generation Comes Of Age

For the last 20 years, computers and technology have been part of the everyday curriculum for a generation or two of digitally privileged kids -- and, as they become the majority, it's showtime. As computer-literate children become America's new leaders, visionaries, and designers, how will their digital upbringing affect society and culture? New York Times technology columnist David Pogue takes a thoughtful, funny look at how the tidal wave will hit as the digital generation enters prime time -- what we'll gain, what we'll lose, and what beliefs and approaches will shift into something we've never seen before.

Blogs vs. Journalism

It's been said, over and over again, that blogs unleash the power of the citizen journalist. A new day has dawned, when news can hit the Web instantly, long before the mainstream media gets around to it. That, after all, is how so many of the great scandal stories have broken in the last few years.
But is blogger journalism actually journalism? David Pogue, who writes a column for the New York Times, obviously has an opinion -- but it might not be the one you expect. In this funny, thought-provoking talk, he tries to pin down the pros and the cons of the blogger as journalist, as well as the journalist as blogger -- and offers a few suggestions that might give the public the best of both worlds.

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