John Gruber
Born 1973 · Age 52
American technology blogger, UI designer, co-creator of Markdown, author of Daring Fireball and host of The Talk Show podcast.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born
John Gruber was born (year provided as 1973); he is from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area.
Estimated: Earned BS in Computer Science (Drexel University)
Gruber received a Bachelor of Science in computer science from Drexel University. (Year not stated in source; estimate provided based on typical graduation age.)
Joined Bare Bones Software (start)
Gruber worked for Bare Bones Software beginning in 2000 (tenure listed 2000–02).
Left Bare Bones Software (end)
Gruber's tenure at Bare Bones Software ended in 2002 (tenure listed 2000–02).
Founded Daring Fireball
John Gruber launched and began writing Daring Fireball, a technology- and Apple-focused weblog and podcast home.
Published longform 'Independent Days' on Daring Fireball
Example of his early longform writing on Daring Fireball (post dated July 8, 2003).
Began selling Daring Fireball memberships
Gruber began offering paid memberships/support/donations for Daring Fireball readers with perks (Chartwell and site references indicate memberships began in 2004).
Released Markdown (co-created with Aaron Swartz)
Gruber and Aaron Swartz developed and published Markdown, a simple plain-text-to-HTML markup format; readme dated December 17, 2004.
Joined Joyent (start)
Gruber worked for Joyent during 2005–06 according to his biography.
Left Joyent (end)
Gruber's tenure at Joyent concluded in 2006 (tenure listed 2005–06).
Daring Fireball displayed The Deck ads (start)
Beginning in 2006 Daring Fireball displayed ads from The Deck, an advertising network, a relationship that continued for over a decade.
Launched The Talk Show (co-hosted with Dan Benjamin)
In June 2007 Gruber and Dan Benjamin began co-hosting The Talk Show, an independent technology podcast initially at thetalkshow.net.
Made Daring Fireball feeds freely available
In August 2007 Gruber made the site's feeds freely available; the feed later featured a weekly sponsor.
The Talk Show joins 5by5 Studios (start of 5by5 run)
The Talk Show format 'started over' and helped establish Dan Benjamin's 5by5 Studios; the show ran on that arrangement starting July 2010.
Daring Fireball 10th anniversary (media coverage)
The Atlantic and others marked Daring Fireball's 10th anniversary in August 2012; Daring Fireball had been active since 2002.
Concluded The Talk Show run on 5by5 (90 episodes)
The Talk Show ran on 5by5 from July 2010 until May 2012 for a total of 90 episodes.
Moved The Talk Show to Mule Radio Syndicate; became sole host
In May 2012 Gruber moved The Talk Show to the Mule Radio Syndicate network and changed format to be the sole host with alternating guests.
Co-founded Q Branch (software firm)
In early 2013 John Gruber, Brent Simmons, and Dave Wiskus founded Q Branch to develop the Vesper notes app for iOS.
Announced/Published 'Vesper' (product)
Gruber published a piece titled 'Vesper' (June 6, 2013) and the team launched the Vesper notes app for iOS (product activity in 2013).
The Talk Show parted with Mule Radio and joined Daring Fireball
In May 2014 The Talk Show left Mule Radio Syndicate and became part of Daring Fireball; it retained the episode numbering and logo from the Mule Radio period.
Phil Schiller appeared live on The Talk Show at WWDC 2015
Apple SVP Phil Schiller appeared as a guest on a live episode of The Talk Show during Apple's WWDC (June 2015 in San Francisco).
Recorded episode with Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi published
Apple SVPs Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi appeared on a recorded episode of The Talk Show published February 12, 2016.
Phil Schiller & Craig Federighi on live The Talk Show at WWDC 2016
Both Phil Schiller and Craig Federighi appeared as guests on live Talk Show episodes during WWDC 2016.
Announced 'Vesper, Adieu' (Q Branch / Vesper closure)
Gruber wrote 'Vesper, Adieu' (Aug 23, 2016) announcing the end of the Vesper project and the shutdown of Q Branch.
The Deck advertising relationship ended
Daring Fireball used ads from The Deck from 2006 through 2017 (relationship ended in 2017).
Craig Federighi & Phil Schiller on live The Talk Show at WWDC 2017
Senior Apple executives again appeared as live guests on Gruber's Talk Show during WWDC 2017.
RSS feed sponsorship pricing reported ($9,000/week)
As of January 2018 Chartwell reported Gruber charging US$9,000 per week for RSS feed sponsorship (includes promotional item and linked list item).
Launched Dithering podcast with Ben Thompson
In March 2020 Gruber started Dithering, a 15-minute subscription podcast with Ben Thompson; access is subscription-based and each episode is exactly 15 minutes.
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