Ed Renehan

The Internet treats censorship as a malfunction and routes around it. - John Perry Barlow

I've been actively involved in trade and short-discount publishing for the PC, Mac, mini, mainframe and networked systems marketplaces since 1980.

As Director of Computer Publishing Programs for MBCI/Macmillan (later Newbridge, a division of K-III, now called PriMedia) I packaged and marketed some of the very first commercial book/disc toolkits for fractal programming, object-oriented programming in C++, relational databases, Internet programming, and the creation of virtual reality implementations. All this was done in collaboration with a diverse range of publishers, software/hardware evangelists (from Microsoft, Apple, Cisco, etc.) and - of course - authors. 

Wearing the same hat, I also developed and marketed many low-level user guides and directories for various PC and Mac applications related to word processing, graphic design, desktop publishing, spreadsheeting, etc., and was one of the first to experiment (successfully) with with the commercial distribution of programming tools/documentation via the Web.

I left Newbridge (where I continued to consult) in 1994, relocating to Rhode Island from the NYC metro area.

Thereafter, in between writing bios, playing music and and goofing around with sailboats, I continued to package computer books and book/discs in partnership with several publishers. These titles included Hackerproof, Science on the Web, 1001 Programming Resources, Net Worth: Creating & Maximizing Wealth with the Internet, and The Scientific American Guide to Science on the Web. Many of these books were bestsellers in their fields, and were translated into Russian, Japanese and other languages.

I remain a geek, fascinated with the evolution of Web 2.0 ... viral marketing, PR and digital brand-management ... e-publishing ... and issues related to free speech, digital privacy, and intellectual property in cyberspace. Check my blog e-publishing, etc. and my e-publishing start-up, New Street Communications, for more info.