Jeffrey Zeldman
 Creator of Jeffrey Zeldman Presents, a popular online funhouse and graphics site. Designer and Executive Steering Committee member of The Web Standards Project, a coalition of developers and users dedicated to wiping out the incompatibilities between web browsers by persuading manufacturers to adhere to W3C standards. Host of 15 Minutes, a streaming interview zine featuring movie stars and web celebs. I'm co-founder of Furbo Filters for Photoshop and ImageReady, co-moderator of A List Apart, a web design digest with 3,000 subscribers. Girlfriend, two cats. |
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| How did you personally get into using the Macintosh family of computers? |
I first encountered the Mac while freelancing at an ad agency. More in a moment (below). | |
| Status: | User, evangelist, HTML geek. | |
First Mac:
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Power Mac 6100 AV. (1994) | |
Current Mac:
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Power Tower Pro 225 with everything (1997) | |
| When did you get your first modem? | 1994 | |
| Who did you call first? | Uh, I guess I should say my Dad. | |
| Present Occupation: | Web designer/writer. | |
| Claim to Fame: | http://www.zeldman.com/, http://www.webstandards.org/, http://www.zeldman.com/15/ ... | |
| Dream Job: | What I do now is my dream job. I create content for the web and interact with my audience. What could be better? |
| Not So Random Thoughts... | |||
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| Was there ever a time in your life that you had to "Think Different?" What was the situation and what did you do? | |||
| I had a perfectly good PC and I got rid of it to finance the purchase of my first Mac. At the time (1994) people warned me Apple was "going out of business any minute." Didn't phase me. I didn't buy it. Nothing this great could die like that. | |||
| How has using the Macintosh computer changed your life? | |||
| It was late in the computer revolution. I started using Macs at an ad agency where I was freelancing as a copywriter. Then I received a Windows laptop as a gift. After one year, through much study, I could edit my config.sys file and add memory to Microsoft Word. Not terribly exciting.
In 1994 I bought my first Mac, a 6100 AV. Within six months I had helped create one of the most popular websites of the time, the Batman Forever site formerly at http://batmanforever.com. Within a year I had several sites going. With my Mac I was able to learn Photoshop and HTML and focus on the creative act. With my Macs and the web I've found the ultimate creative outlet. And I get paid. ;) Because the Mac makes even complex technology easier to work with, I concentrate on content, producing more, innovating more, meeting more people through the work I do. Because of my web work, I was invited to speak at a conference in Istanbul. One of the conference's sponsors flew my girlfriend and me to that amazing Turkish city < http://www.zeldman.com/stanbul/ > and put us up in a hotel, allowing us to wander as we pleased for nearly two weeks. |
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| What is the weirdest thing in your office right now? | |||
| Take your pick, there's a lot to choose from. Me, I guess. | |||
| My Passions are: | |||
| The web, literature (James Ellroy, Jim Thompson, Doris Lessing are current ad perennial favorites), film (Hitchcock, Welles, Scorcese, Bergman, Fellini, Woody Allen, Tim Burton, too many to name), music (everything -- Nino Rota, Eno, Bowie, Miles, electronica, everything). Friends. NYC, my home. San Francisco, my home away from home. Istanbul (I want to return). All the places I haven't seen yet. | |||
| If you could have dinner with one person dead or alive who would that person be and what would you ask them? | |||
| Jesus. I wouldn't ask him anything, I'd just listen. | |||
| Do you play a musical instrument and/or are you in a band? | |||
| Piano, synthesizers, and miscellanies. In the early 80s I toured with The Insect Surfers, a techno-surf band. | |||
| When I grow up I want to be: | |||
| Exactly who I am. I wouldn't have answered that way ten years ago, but today it's the truth. | |||
| The question never asked: | |||
| No, we did not have sex. Not according to the definition in that document. |
| Just The Facts, Please... | ||||
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| Biographical Tidbits: | Born NYC. Lived everywhere. Married once, didn't take. | Education: | MA Fiction Writing, University of Virginia. BA English, Indiana University. | |
| Location at Birth: | NYC | Current Location: | NYC (the circle closes) | |
| Where you've been in between: |
See above for a sample. | Astrological Sign: | Capricorn. I know, I know. | |
| Available? | No. Unmarried but happily living with the painter Joan Stennick | Chat Nick: | I don't chat. | |
| Favorite Books: | James Ellroy: American Tabloid, The Black Dahlia, LA Confidential. Doris Lessing: Martha Quest, A Proper Marriage, A Ripple From the Storm, Landlocked, The Four Gated City. D. H. Lawrence: Women in Love. Paul Auster: New York Trilogy. Jim Thompson: The Killer Inside Me, The Grifters, Savage Night | .Favorite Music or Band: | Eno, Music For Films I | |
| Favorite Food: | Lately, Turkish (meze). | Cat or Dog Person: | Cat. | |
| Jeffrey's Personal Web Site | |
| web standards project - Jeffrey's Professional Web Site |
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| Favorite Web Site: | Glassdog |
| "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the
difference." Corny, I know. But it works. |
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Created Tuesday, September, 22, 1998; Edited: 12/2/98, 1/30/99