Where are they now?

Back in the early 2000's there was a show on a long-gone channel (Tech TV) called The Screen Savers. To anyone who was into technology at the time The Screen Savers was one of the few TV-based bastions that could be depended on for reporting all of the latest in gadgets, software, and all around geekery. The show actually started in 1998 and ran until 2005, but I find the 2000 - 2003 era to contain the best episodes of the bunch. If you're really interested in learning more about the show's history go ahead and hit up its Wikipedia entry.

The Screen Savers was hosted by Leo Laporte and Patrick Norton and featured many other co-hosts (Kevin Rose, Megan Morrone, Morgan Webb, Sarah Lane, and Martin Sargeant just to name a few) and it was one of my favorite shows of all time. When the show disbanded in 2005 (after already having lost many of its key members due to the G4 acquisition) I was sad to see it go. The nice thing though is that via the web I've been able to keep up with most of the cast, and in a way I'm almost happy that they decided to put TSS behind them. Today I'll cover some of my favorite audio podcasts, video podcasts, and IPTV offerings from the TechTV alumnus and alumna that I watch/listen to regularly.

Leo Laporte is now heading up the largest podcasting network that I know of: TWiT. The network's flagship podcast (and the show that gives TWiT its name) is This Week in Tech, a weekly roundtable discussion most commonly hosted by Leo himself, John C. Dvorak, and Pat Norton. The panel often varies however, and many other tech luminaries have participated. Other notable shows from the TWiT network include Windows Weekly with Paul Thurrott, Macbreak Weekly, Net@Nite (featuring Amber Mac), and Jumping Monkeys (featuring Megan Morrone) just to name a few. Leo participates in all of these podcasts himself. If you haven't heard of TWiT - it's hard to believe that you wouldn't have, if you're into tech - I'd definitely recommend giving it a look.

Patrick Norton was, up until just recently, co-hosting his own IPTV offering with Robert Heron called DL.TV. The show is very similar to the Screen Savers' layout and has a lot of the same feel. I like it because it's still, for the time being anyways, the closest I can get to the "good ol' days." Robert Heron was from TechTV and is best-known for his extremely extensive knowledge on anything related to displays. Roger Chang, who is also a Tech TV escapee, can be found behind the cameras (and sometimes in front of them) producing the DL.TV webisodes. Just yesterday I heard that Patrick Norton had announced that DL.TV's episode #188 would be his last. He already has another opportunity lined up however, so expect to see him again soon.

Kevin Rose. Do I even need to say anything? Digg. Pownce. Revision 3. This guy has gone completely crazy since he left TechTV and has brought some of the coolest web 2.0 websites to fruition. Digg.com is a social news networking site where users can contribute stories which other users then rate, Pownce.com is a twitter-like miniblog that allows users to share files with their friends, and Revision3.com is the hottest IPTV offering currently available. I highly doubt Kevin regrets leaving the set of The Screen Savers whatsoever.

Morgan Webb is one of the few TechTV holdouts who stuck with G4 after the switch, and she can still be found co-hosting Xplay with Adam Sessler. She also just started a new web show, one that sort of gave me the idea for this post (along with a brief Twitter conversation), called Webb Alert (get it? Her last name is Webb! Oi...). There are only 4 episodes of Webb Alert available right now but the basic premise is that Morgan covers all of the hottest news from the blogosphere in handy little 5-minute bites a few times a week. It looks promising even in these early stages. Keep an eye on it.

There's one other person I wanted to mention: Jim Louderback. You might not remember him even if you were a Tech TV viewer because he wasn't on-screen very often. He was, after all, the Vice President of the network so he might have had more important things to do. Even so, it's good to know who he is because he's a big player in web media. After TechTV he became editor in chief for PC Magazine and also managed several IPTV shows including DL.TV and John C. Dvorak's Cranky Geeks. Not long ago he left that position and is now the CEO of Revision 3.

So that's what they're doing now, for the most part. It amazes me to think how much the cast of The Screen Savers has done since they left the show. If Leo Laporte hadn't left TechTV I doubt podcasting would be as big as it has become, without Patrick Norton and Jim Louderback IPTV wouldn't be exploding right now, and if Kevin Rose had stayed on with G4 there probably would be no digg. Basically, without the lot of them, we'd have an internet that I'm not sure I'd want to inhabit!

Also, Dvorak.org/blog.

Currently Listening To: Flogging Molly - Never Met a Girl Like You Before
Currently Playing: Overlord