Two years ago I was introduced to something called Podcasting by my doctorate buddies from Pepperdine. I was one of those guys, because of my love and my work in technology, always had Tech-TV playing in the background, keeping me up-to-date on whatever was happening in the tech world. Alas, when Tech-TV disappeared podcasting stepped up to fill the gap. I noticed early on that, because of the amateur nature of most of these audio and video shows, there was a tendency for them to be much more personable and personal than traditional media. for good or bad, there seemed to be a greater sense of “knowing” the person on the other side of the microphone. Or as podcaster-extrodinaire, Leo Laporte, put it, podcasting is much more of a conversation than what happens in traditional radio or TV.

So, while getting in a few minutes of the “MacOS Ken” podcast as I began my day, I was shocked to hear that one of the nicest guys whom I’ve been listening to for the past two-years suddenly died this past week. As I’ve listened to podcasts I’ve found that many of these guys are as abrasive and irritating in their know-it-all-ness as many AM radio talk show hosts. That’s all the more reason why 47-year-old William Douthett, aka “Digital Bill” from “The Wizards of Technology” podcast will be so very much missed. Some times the audio quality really sucked but the info was always spot-on and entertaining. He was a genuine self-affacing guy, who loved his tech and more than that, loved sharing and helping others get the damn things to do what they were supposed to be able to do. The Wizard’s used to use the theme: “we’re geeks so that you don’t have to be.”

When I searched around the net to find additional information on what had happened or just whether others were posting on his passing, I stopped short when I read that he was my age. That really brought home the notion about how important it is to pursue ones dreams and to live with meaningful intention. Digital Bill certain seemed to do that. I never had the pleasure to meet the man in person, and only saw a couple of pictures of him (notably from the TWIT podcast at last year’s Podcast Expo) but I will certainly miss his humor and spirit. JBB

Digital Bill