It is a sad day for the entire industry, Mike Magee has passed away. SemiAccurate would not be here without him, nor would much of the tech press, at least in it’s current form.
I first encountered Mike Magee at The Register which, at the time, was the only real source for industry news of an… err… unofficial nature. It was unique, irreverent, and a must read. The technical nature of it was a tad lacking at times and I took it upon myself to write letters of correction. They got more frequent and longer in the hopes of educating the authors, at least that is the story I am sticking with. One day I saw an article on The Reg that looked really interesting and clicked on it. It was my letter. Over the next few months a few more of these ‘articles’ appeared and I was just fine with that.
Soon after Mike Magee left The Register and founded The Inquirer, then quickly followed it up with a heart attack. While he was convalescing I offered to throw in stories. This continued after Mike was back on his feet and one thing led to another. The hiring process went something like, “You want a job” to which I replied, “Yeah sure”. HR was a tad lacking at The Inq in the early days.
Working over the net meant you could be a continent away and never see or talk to your colleagues. In the days before video calls or even functional voice calls over the net, all I really had were pictures of Mike, Fudo, and the rest of the crew. I didn’t meet Mike until years later at and AMD Opteron event in New York City in April 2003. I was in Boston and asked Mike if he could get me in if I showed up. He said yes and I took the train down.
The Inquirer’s 4th birthday party went down the tubes
When I got to the event I emailed Mike and asked where he was. Anyone who knows him already knows the answer, at an Irish pub around the corner. Minutes later I met Mike in his natural habitat, an Irish pub. From San Franscisco to Taipei, that is pretty much where he held court, and the people who came calling were testament to his abilities.
All that said, Mike Magee was a genius with words. He could skewer people directly, indirectly, or with plausible deniability. If you read this article before you read the headline you will understand what he could do with words. Those not around at the time don’t really understand the reach and sheer power Mike Magee and The Inquirer wielded at the time but nothing before or after has matched it.
One good example of the clout Mike had was summed up in a conversation I had with him and an Intel VP who shall remain nameless during an IDF in China. He casually mentioned that The Inq was the first thing he read when he woke up. With a good degree of snark I asked, “Before or after you take a leak?”. “Before”. He was serious. Those days are unlikely to return but they were pretty amazing to live through and it is all because of what Mike Magee created. Much to the relief of many execs in the industry, there will never be another like him.
It is hard to overstate how much I learned from him, sometimes even intentionally. The tips, tricks, and methods he came up with were unique and unmatched. Everyone always accused The Inq of paying for stories or doing underhanded things for information but those of us on the inside knew that nothing could be further from the truth. There was occasional infighting and scooping each other but it was all done with respect and for the good of the publication.
Now Mike Magee is no longer with us. While he hasn’t been an active participant in the industry for several years, his shadow is still shaping what we do and how we do it. I will miss his smile, energy, and an amazing way to craft words that I can’t say I have ever seen the like of. If you knew him you understand what a loss this is. Rest in peace my friend.S|A
Charlie Demerjian
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