Paul Ford (born August 11, 1974) is an American writer, programmer, and entrepreneur, based in New York City. [1] [2]
In 1997, he started Ftrain.com, one of the earliest blogs. He wrote for Harper's Magazine from 2004 to 2010 [3] and as of July 2023 [update] is a regular contributor to Wired Magazine; [1] he has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, MIT Technology Review, and NPR. [2]
In 2015, he published a 38,000-word article in Bloomberg Businessweek titled "What is Code", [4] a "deep dive into the meaning, practice, culture, and business of software", and the longest article ever run in the magazine. [5] [6] [7] [8] The piece won a National Magazine Award in 2016, [9] was included in The Best American Magazine Writing 2016 published by the American Society of Magazine Editors and Columbia University Press, [10] [11] and Ford, together with Bloomberg editor Josh Tyrangiel, appeared on Charlie Rose to discuss it. [12]
Ford is the author of The Secret Lives of Web Pages first published in 2016, with an updated edition forthcoming in 2025. [13] [14]
He is a co-founder of Aboard, an AI startup, and Postlight, a design and digital strategy consultancy that was acquired by NTT Data in 2022. [15] He served as an advisor to the White House Office of Digital Strategy during the Obama Administration. [16]
Paul Ford (born August 11, 1974) is an American writer, programmer, and entrepreneur, based in New York City. [1] [2]
In 1997, he started Ftrain.com, one of the earliest blogs. He wrote for Harper's Magazine from 2004 to 2010 [3] and as of July 2023 [update] is a regular contributor to Wired Magazine; [1] he has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, MIT Technology Review, and NPR. [2]
In 2015, he published a 38,000-word article in Bloomberg Businessweek titled "What is Code", [4] a "deep dive into the meaning, practice, culture, and business of software", and the longest article ever run in the magazine. [5] [6] [7] [8] The piece won a National Magazine Award in 2016, [9] was included in The Best American Magazine Writing 2016 published by the American Society of Magazine Editors and Columbia University Press, [10] [11] and Ford, together with Bloomberg editor Josh Tyrangiel, appeared on Charlie Rose to discuss it. [12]
Ford is the author of The Secret Lives of Web Pages first published in 2016, with an updated edition forthcoming in 2025. [13] [14]
He is a co-founder of Aboard, an AI startup, and Postlight, a design and digital strategy consultancy that was acquired by NTT Data in 2022. [15] He served as an advisor to the White House Office of Digital Strategy during the Obama Administration. [16]