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 contribute to the blog “Tech Beat“
- 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: 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 directories. Nor do I do “gift guides,” at any time of the year.
How not to pitch me: Don’t initiate contact, especially if you’re contacting me for the very first time, via any of the following: Personal email; AIM; GTalk; Facebook; Twitter; or Skype. Don’t ask me what I’m working on. If you need to know, you already know.
How to pitch me: Do your research. 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; I’m listed in the media directories). If your timing is fortuitous, and if I’m interested, I’ll answer. We’ll take it from there. Don’t call 30 minutes later to “follow up” on the email you just sent because I will likely tell you I haven’t read it. When seeking a meeting at my offices in New York, it’s best to ask at least two weeks in advance so that I may plan ahead.
Also, watch this:
For everyone else
Contacting me: Email is in almost all cases the best method. Use the form below.
If you absolutely require voice contact, you may leave me a voice message by clicking the “Call Me” button below and entering your phone number. This will cause your phone to ring, and you will be prompted to leave a voice message.
