Robert X. Cringely is the pen name of Mark Stephens, a computer journalist and broadcaster. Cringely became well-known in the computer industry from his Notes From the Field, a column he wrote from 1987 to 1995 for InfoWorld , a weekly computer trade newspaper published by IDG.

When Cringely left InfoWorld in 1995, IDG sued him for trademark infringement to prevent him using the name elsewhere. They settled out of court, IDG paid Cringely's legal costs, and he is now allowed to use the name professionally, but not in computer publications. InfoWorld continues to print a column (written by somebody else) using the name.

Cringely's writing has also appeared in other publications including The New York Times, Newsweek, Forbes, Upside, Success , and Worth. He also wrote a book, Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions Battle Foreign Competition and Still Can't Get a Date (1992, ISBN 0887308554), that is an informal history of Silicon Valley. A documentary based on the book, called Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires was produced by PBS in 1996, with Cringely as the presenter.

Cringely currently writes an online column for the PBS website called I, Cringely: The Pulpit.

External links

• I, Cringely
• Wired Magazine profile
• Triumph of the Nerds
• PBS analyst falsely claims Stanford Ph.D
• InfoWorld Columnist: Robert X. Cringely® (no longer by Mark Stephens)