__ People __
__ MacPhoto __
In a former life, Bill Atkinson designed the Macintosh's point-and-click user interface and wrote the code for QuickDraw, MacPaint, and HyperCard. Now, as the owner of Bill Atkinson Photography (www.natureimages.com/), he uses digital techniques to process earthy snapshots and sell them on the Web for $200 to $1,800 a pop. "Nature photography supplies a right-brain spiritual nourishment that balances the left-brain science of color management," he says, proving that some Apple folks really do think different.
__ Doesn't Do Windows __
There are writers, and there are masochists. And then there's hard-working SF author David Brin, who will publish both The Transparent Society and Heaven's Reach this spring. He's also been hired to pen The Secret Foundation, a new installment in the late Isaac Asimov's saga, and later this year he'll launch an initiative aimed at "encouraging science fiction literacy among teen readers." Is he just trying to forget Kevin Costner's version of The Postman? Brin demurs, crediting his own hyperactivity to a "wonderful civilization willing to overpay me to write arm-wavings about the future."
__ Well Traveled __
Sometimes the Web takes careers for a ride. Take Maria Wilhelm, whose 20-month tenure as president of the venerable online community The Well should qualify her for a gold watch. When Wilhelm officially wished the service goodbye on January 15, she embarked on a full-time career at Digital Strategies, a media consulting firm founded two years ago with partners Jim Kinsella and Bob McNeal. Insiders report that Wilhelm's attempt to buy The Well from current owner Bruce Katz was stymied by disagreements over a valuation of the company. As for its acquisition, "I think The Well will be sold," Wilhelm opines, "and this will be a good thing for the community."
__ New Labour Lackey __
The "Esther Dyson of the UK" mantle goes to Geoff Mulgan, founder of the think tank Demos. His tomes - such as the recent Connexity - have become required reading inside Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party. But while Dyson has kibitzed inside Al Gore's kitchen cabinet, the 36-year-old Mulgan has gone her one better: he was hired to join the crowd at 10 Downing Street as a member of the PM's policy unit. "We've left Hong Kong and left behind an empire, and we're moving closer to Europe," predicts Mulgan, who advises Blair on government modernization. "There's an interest in a clear break with the past."
__ Will Toil for Bill __
VCs scoffed when Sabeer Bhatia pitched his idea for free Web-based email in 1995. Now the 29-year-old upstart has the last laugh: after signing up 11 million Hotmail accounts and selling the company to Microsoft for an estimated US$400 million earlier this year, people actually listen when he declares, "My goal is to go after AOL on the Web." Though selling out to Bill often amounts to the ultimate exit strategy, Bhatia claims, "I'll be reporting to Redmond for a while. It's going to be a year of explosive growth."
