One of the legends of the IT industry, tantric guru, and the inventor of the cynical red-top tech tabloid, Mike Magee, has died at the age of 74.
Magee started his career as a printer before working for VNU Business Publications on PC Dealer and then at their IT news venture, VNU Newswire. This was where I met him; his effective method proved a handful for his editors.
His technique was simple: He would disappear for most of the day and somehow write the lead story. If needed, he could be found in one of Soho’s nearby waterholes. If you were a good editor you learnt not to interfere.
He left the Newswire and co-founded The Register, the UK’s first Internet-based IT tabloid, with John Lettice in 1994. Magee focused on computer chip reporting in the newsletter, and Lettice covered software.
“We realised the chip industry was worth about $200bn a year then, and we were down the pub one day and said, ‘Why don’t we do a newsletter because we can and this is a big, big market, and nobody else seems to be doing much about it,” Magee said.
The Register used the slogan “Biting the Hand That Feeds IT” to reflect its iconoclastic attitude, attracting a following among IT professionals and investors.
In December 2000, Magee suffered a heart attack and died on the operating table only to revive and being told that he would have to do the same operation in ten years (he didn’t). When he returned to work, he stated publicly that he disagreed with the editorial direction of The Register.
He left to found The Inquirer, which reflected the original editorial philosophy. Unlike The Register, which received a lot of investment, The Inquirer received little financing but managed to make a profit. Magee was the only full-time employee. The entire magazine was based on freelance submissions, and staff and advertising were outsourced. Many technology journalists who got their start at the INQ owe something to Mike.
In 2006, Magee met with VNU leaders over their alleged use of a web layout similar to that of The Inquirer. Later that year, Magee sold The Inquirer to VNU. He remained as editor of The Inquirer until February 2008, when he left to pursue other publishing ventures, including TechEye and ChannelEye. He joined Fudzilla as Editor-at-Large in July 2016.
In 2009 the Daily Telegraph placed Magee 35 in its list of Top 50 most influential Britons in technology.
Supermicro has introduced a plug-and-play SuperCluster tailored for the NVIDIA Omniverse platform.
Cisco has appointed Sarah Walker as its new CEO for the UK and Ireland.
Infinigate Group has today announced commendable revenue growth for the first quarter of the financial year 2024-2025, which commenced in April 2024.
A few days after it announced it was buying 
Turing Award laureate and AI pioneer, Yoshua Bengio, has been appointed as the scientific director of the ‘Safeguarded AI’ initiative. This project, funded by the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), aims to enhance AI safety.
LDC has further solidified its reputation as the channel’s most prolific investor by flinging some cash at Creative ITC.
Grey box shifter Dell has embarked on a strategic reorganisation, cutting some sales positions while creating others, as it aims to streamline operations and focus on growth in the AI era.
Infosys expanded its AI-focused partnership with ServiceNow to offer new end-to-end managed services for enterprises.
Fortinet has announced the completion of its acquisition of cloud security pioneer Lacework, a move set to significantly bolster its cybersecurity platform.
The UK government has cancelled £1.3 billion in funding for tech and AI projects that were announced by the previous administration.
Beancounters at Gartner group have delivered a thumbs down to GenAI saying that nearly one in three GenAI projects will be abandoned.
IT infrastructure services provider Kyndryl has expanded its partnership with Vodafone Business to enhance security and resilience services for Vodafone’s financial sector customers.
Storm Technologies has laid off at least 25 employees in July, with up to 70 staff members considered for redundancy.
