Esther Dyson

Infobox_Person
name = Esther Dyson

---

imagesize = 200px
caption =
birth_date = birth date and age|1951|7|14
birth_place = Zürich, Switzerland

Esther Dyson (born 14 July, 1951, Zürich, Switzerland) is a journalist and commentator on emerging digital technology, a founding member of the digerati, an entrepreneur, and a philanthropist. [cite web|url=http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromMktGuideIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedMktGuideId=1045416|publisher=Forbes Magazine|title=Esther Dyson Profile|accessdate=2008-10-12|quote=She left CNET at the end of 2006 and now operates as an independent investor and entrepreneur, [..] She is also active in public affairs and was founding chairman of ICANN] cite web|title=Biographical Data on Esther Dyson|accessdate=2008-10-12|publisher=Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers|quote=Esther Dyson, former Chairman of the ICANN Board [..] She was appointed as one of ICANN's nine initial directors in October 1998. She served as an ICANN director until 16 November 2000.|url=http://www.icann.org/biog/dyson.htm] [cite web|publisher=Edge Foundation, Inc.|url=http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/bios/dysone.html|accessdate=2008-10-12|quote=Esther Dyson is editor of the computer-industry newsletter, Release 1.0, a CNET Networks publication|title=Edge: Esther Dyson] [Esther Dyson on [http://www.charlierose.com/guests/esther-dyson Charlie Rose] ] [Esther Dyson in [http://www.reason.com/news/show/30021.html Reason Magazine] ] [Esther Dyson on [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/esther-dyson/ Huffington Post] ] [cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/wlust/road/1997/11/cov_04road.html|accessdate=2008-10-12|publisher=Salon Wanderlust|title=Road Warrior: Esther Dyson|first=Don|last=George|date=1997-11-04|quote=Esther Dyson, one of the preeminent visionaries of the digital age -- and a quintessential road warrior [..] She also invests in and sits on the boards of several U.S. start-ups. In addition, Dyson is chairwoman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit civil liberties organization]

On 7 October 2008, Space Adventures announced that Dyson had paid to train as a backup commercial astronaut for Charles Simonyi's trip to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz TMA-14 mission scheduled for 2009. [cite web|url=http://www.spaceadventures.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.viewnews&newsid=639|title=Space Adventures Announces Esther Dyson as Back-Up Crew Member for Spring 2009 Spaceflight Mission|date=2008-10-07|accessdate=2008-10-12|publisher=Space Adventures|quote=Esther Dyson, an investor in Space Adventures [..] will train as the back-up crew member alongside orbital spaceflight candidate Charles Simonyi, Ph.D., who is currently planning a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in spring 2009. [..] The price of the back-up crew member program is $3,000,000 (USD), which includes the required spaceflight training costs, along with accommodations in Star City]

Life

Esther Dyson is the daughter of physicist Freeman Dyson and mathematician Verena Huber-Dyson, and sister to digital technology historian George Dyson. [See excerpt from [http://www.edge.org/documents/digerati/Dyson.html Digerati: Encounters with the Cyber Elite] by John Brockman (HardWired Books, 1996)] After graduating from Harvard in economics, she joined Forbes as a fact-checker and quickly rose to reporter. In 1977, she joined New Court Securities as "the research department,"Esther Dyson on [http://www.icann.org/biog/dyson.htm ICANN] ] following Federal Express and other start-ups. After a stint at Oppenheimer covering software companies, she moved to Rosen Research and in 1983 bought the company from her employer Ben Rosen, renaming it EDventure Holdings. She sold EDventure Holdings to CNET Networks in 2004, and left CNET in January 2007 when CNET declined to continue her PC Forum conference. [ [http://seekingalpha.com/article/25446-cnet-networks-q4-2006-earnings-call-transcript CNET Networks Q4 2006 Earnings Call Transcript] ]

Publications and business ventures

Currently, Dyson is [http://www.edventure.com/board-seats-investments.html a board member and active investor] in a variety of start-ups, mostly in online services, health care/genetics, and space travel.

Previously, Dyson and her company EDventure specialized in analyzing the impact of emerging technologies and markets on economies and societies. She created the following publications on technology:
* Release 1.0, her monthly technology-industry newsletter, published by EDventure Holdings. Until 2006, Dyson wrote several issues herself and edited the others. When she left CNET, the newsletter was picked up by O'Reilly Media, which appointed Jimmy Guterman to edit it and renamed the newsletter Release 2.0.
* Release 2.0, her 1997 book on how the Internet affects individuals' lives. Its full title is "Release 2.0: A design for living in the digital age". The revision "Release 2.1" was published in 1998.
* Release 3.0, her bimonthly column for the New York Times, distributed via its syndicate and reprinted in "Release 1.0" (now defunct).
* Release 4.0, her weblog. On March 4, 2005, that weblog moved to Dyson's Flickr account. [ [http://www.flickr.com/photos/edyson/ weblog moved to Flickr] ]

Dyson is an adviser to the "First Monday" journal, and an occasional contributor to Arianna Huffington's online [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ Huffington Post] as [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/esther-dyson Release 0.9] .

Dyson has also been [http://www.edventure.com/board-seats-investments.html a board member or early investor] in several tech startups, among them Flickr, del.icio.us, Eventful, Netbeans, [http://www.powerset.com/ Powerset] , Systinet, ZEDO, [http://www.cvonline.hu CV-Online] , Medscape, and Medstory.

As of early 2007, Dyson describes herself as "spending more and more time on private aviation and commercial space startups." [ [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117435835841342348.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries| New Horizons for the Intrepid VC (WSJ.com)] ] and also in health care and genetics. She has invested in XCOR, Constellation Services, Zero-G, Icon Aircraft, and Space Adventures. Since 2005, she has hosted the [http://www.edventure.com/flightschool/ Flight School] conference in Aspen. She is currently on the board of directors of 23andMe, and is one of the first ten volunteers in the Personal Genome Project.

Philanthropy

Dyson is an active member of a number of non-profit and advisory organizations. From 1998 to 2000, she was the founding chairman of ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. As of 2004, she sat on its "reform" committee, dedicated to defining a role for individuals in ICANN's decision-making and governance structures.Esther Dyson on [http://www.icann.org/biog/dyson.htm ICANN] ] She has followed closely the post-Soviet transition of Eastern Europe, and is a member of the [http://www.president.bg/sit Bulgarian President's IT Advisory Council] , along with Vint Cerf, George Sadowsky, and Veni Markovski, among others. She has served as a trustee of, and helped fund, emerging organizations such as [http://www.glassesforhumanity.org/ Glasses for Humanity] , [http://www.bridges.org/ Bridges.org] , the [http://www.ned.org/ National Endowment for Democracy] , and the Eurasia Foundation. She is also a member of the board for The Long Now Foundation, and a trustee of the Santa Fe Institute.

References

External links

* [http://www.edventure.com/ EDventure.com]
* [http://www.aviation.com/flightschool/ Flight School '08]
* [http://www.release1-0.com Release 1.0 website] (now redirects to O'Reilly Radar Release 2.0).
* [http://radar.oreilly.com/r2/release1_0.html Release 1.0 back issues] (via O'Reilly Radar).
*Dyson, Esther, " [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/17/opinion/17dyson.html?ex=1300251600&en=04138dcf8237c907&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss You've Got Goodmail,] " "New York Times", March 17, 2006.
*" [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117435835841342348.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries| New Horizons for the Intrepid VC,] " "Wall Street Journal", .
*Esther Dyson's writings in the [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/esther-dyson/ Huffington Post.]
* [http://www.charlierose.com/guests/esther-dyson Interviewed] by Charlie Rose, August 14, 2007.
* [http://reason.com/9610/fe.dyson.shtml Interviewed] by Virginia Postrel in "Reason", October 1996.
* [http://longnow.org The Long Now Foundation.]
* [http://eventful.com/events?q=%22esther+dyson%22&l= Future events in which Esther Dyson is participating.]
*BT [http://www.btbigthinkers.bt.com Big Thinkers.] Esther discusses business challenges with thought leaders.
*Borsook, Paulina, [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.05/dyson.html Release:] "Some have called Esther Dyson the most powerful woman in computing. But is her fascination with Eastern Europe leading to eclipse on her home turf?" "Wired", November 1993.
*Dyson, Esther, [http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.07/dyson.html Intellectual Value] "A radical new way of looking at compensation for owners and creators in the Net-based economy," "Wired", July 1995.
*"Space Travel and Social Media" [http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/shows/detail1817.html Talking Portraits] interview with Esther Dyson by Tom Parish.
* [http://www.invincibelle.com/blog/post.php?p=296 Interview with Esther Dyson On Invincibelle]