About
About Arik Hesseldahl
The short version:
- Currently
- Senior Technology writer and columnist at BusinessWeek
- I write BW’s “Byte of the Apple” and contribute to a blog of the same name, and also write for “Tech Beat”
- Host of BusinessWeek’s “The Wireless Way” and “Tech 101″ video podcasts; Panelist on “Digital Dish”
- Prior
- Senior Editor, and technology columnist, Forbes.com
- Freelance contributor, Wired, CJR, Oregon Quarterly, others.
- Senior Editor, Electronic News
- Degrees
- MS, Columbia University
- BA, University of Oregon
I’ve been writing about technology since the early 1990s, but have always been fascinated by personal computing and electronics. I’ve used a Mac since 1985, had my first email address in 1990, my first AOL account in 1994, my first Web site in 1996, registered my first domain name in 1998, launched my first blog in 2002, and started experimenting with what is now called “social media” in 2006.
For the PR types
What I cover: Personal technology, primarily consumer hardware, mobile devices and technology. Major companies I cover include, but are not limited to: Apple, Research In Motion, Intel, Advanced Micro Devices. I very rarely cover computer security, despite what you’ve read in the PR guides.
How not to pitch me: Don’t initiate contact, especially for the first time, via any of the following: Personal email; AIM; GTalk; Facebook; or Twitter. Start with an email message to my BusinessWeek address, which you can find in the usual way. (It cannot be found on this site.) Don’t call the same day to “follow up” on the email you just sent because I will likely tell you I haven’t read it. Accept the fact that your email may never be answered.
How to pitch me: Start by reading my recent coverage in order to be familiar with what I do and don’t tend to write about. Here’s a good place to start. Compare your client’s/employer’s place in the world against the backdrop of where I tend to focus my attention and if you see a logical intersection send a brief email to my work address (which you should already have). If your timing is fortuitous, and if I’m interested I’ll answer. We’ll take it from there.
