David Bunnell

David Bunnell in 1996, from the documentary Triumph of the Nerds.

David Bunnell is a media entrepreneur and technology pioneer who was involved in the earliest days of personal computing revolution and industry. Following a long career in technology publishing, he got involved in the wellness field as a entrepreneur, author and wellness coach.

Bunnell grew up in the small town of Alliance, Nebraska, where he was on the State champion cross-country team and where he worked with his Father who was the editor of the Alliance Daily Times-Herald newspaper. During his senior year in high school, Bunnell served as the sports editor of the newspaper.

Bunnell attended the University of Nebraska from 1965-1969 when he graduated with a B.A. majoring in History. While at the University, he was active in the anti-Vietnam war movement and was elected President of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

Following graduation, Bunnell moved to Chicago where he taught elementary school. He continued his involvement in the anti-war movement, attended the Chicago 8 Trial, and was in the March on Washington in the Fall of 1969.

After two years in Chicago, Bunnell moved to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota to a new teaching position in Kyle, South Dakota, working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. During his stay here, he supported the American Indian Movement's takeover of the village of Wounded Knee and transported food and other supplies to the insurgents.

In 1973, Bunnell got a job as a technical writer at a small electronics company called MITS in Albuquerque, New Mexico, paying US$110 a week. In 1975, he was vice president of marketing, when they introduced the Altair 8800. While at MITS, Bunnell worked closely with Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen, who created the first programming language for the Altair, Altair BASIC.

Bunnell is the founder of several major media properties including PC Magazine, PC World, Macworld, Macworld Expo, New Media and BioWorld. He was the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Upside Media, publisher of Upside magazine, from 1996-2002. Bunnell is the recipient of the only Lifetime Achievement Award from the Computer Press Association. Tony Gold, Eddie Currie and Bunnell founded PC Magazine in 1981. Bunnell and some friends and his wife (Jacqueline Poitier) comprised, in part, the magazines founding staff.

Bunnell was in Triumph of the Nerds, a 1996 documentary, commenting Paul Allen demonstrating their BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800 and how it was significant.

Bunnell is also the founder of Computers & You, a community computer learning center at Glide Church in the heart of one of San Francisco's poorest neighborhoods, the Tenderloin district. Computers & You provides computer training to thousands of poor adults and children. For several years, he also served a member of the board of the Northern California American Civil Liberties Union.

In 2007, Bunnell authored the book, "Count Down Your Age" with Dr. Frederic Vagnini (McGraw-Hill). Also that year, he was the founding Editor-in-Chief of ELDR Media, publisher of ELDR Magazine and eldr.com. The magazine, which was targeted at "enlightened seniors" who live a healthy lifestyle was named the hottest new startup by an industry trade group and the companion website won a number of design awards. Unfortunately, ELDR Media fell victim to the recession that hit the United States in the summer of 2008.

In 2009, Bunnell started the Bunnell Wellness Network, a marketing company that uses social media to market goods, services and ideas for a group of doctors and wellness professionals.

External links

• David Bunnell's Blog, David Bunnell's Blog, 04.30.2010
• PC Magazine, David Bunnell Remembers, 01.24.02
• Digerati: The Seer: David Bunnell
• San Francisco Chronicle, Upside's downside Tech magazine's founder lost more than money during publication's rise and fall, April 1, 2002

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