A brief history of everything
I've said all of this in different places in text and on podcasts, but I want it all in one space. Here's how I got to where I am today.
I was born in 1991, so I grew up in a time when technology had only just begun to revolutionize everything. Like most 90s kids, I have memories of being a kid that grew up playing outside until the street lights came on, but I'd come home and play "Sonic the Hedgehog" on Sega Genesis. My childhood straddled the world pre-internet and post-internet, an oddity only my generation understands.
Video games were a constant in my life despite growing up in a home with limited means and food stamps. I cherished my Gameboy Color and played countless hours of “Pokémon." We managed to purchase every generation of PlayStation, eventually, so I fell in love with titles like "Final Fantasy," "Kingdom Hearts," and "God of War."
Growing up, I knew I had a passion for video games, so that's what I set out to do. That is, until I realized how much money it would take to do so. Then I joined the Navy instead in the hopes it would pay for college later. I was an Electrician's Mate (N), meaning I worked in the power plants as an electrician in a nuclear-powered ship. The money was good, so I reenlisted, but after ten years, I needed a change of pace and changed careers.
It's funny how it all happened, looking back at it now. My gaming obsession led to a love for technology. I experimented with every kind of BlackBerry, Android, and Windows product I could afford. There was even an iPhone 4 briefly, but I hated it at the time and switched it out for whatever Samsung Galaxy existed. However, things never quite clicked how I wanted them to. Apple's ecosystem strengthened, continuity features were announced, and the rest is history.
I was on deployment and realized I wanted to try out Apple. I sold the Sony Vaio hybrid I was using at the time and purchased a MacBook Pro while in Dubai. Once I was back home in 2014, I added an iPad and iPhone and dove deep into the ecosystem.
Up to that point, I was heavily invested in IGN for video games news and followed Greg Miller and gang when they created Kinda Funny Games. It unlocked something in my brain at the time and made me realize someone had to make this stuff. That writing game reviews is something I could do. It became a kind of early concept of what could come for me later in life.
Kinda Funny inspired me in other ways too. Through them, and previously Beyond!, I discovered podcasts existed. Then, as I got into technology, I realized there must be people out there talking about tech too.
A quick search in Apple Podcasts revealed the AppleInsider Podcast and Accidental Tech Podcast, then soon after Relay.fm. These media helped me understand Apple as a company and the technology I loved. Little did I know that while I spent hours playing "Skyrim" listening to the AppleInsider Podcast, I would one day host it.
As I was getting ready to separate from the military in 2019, I knew I needed a new start and began looking for ideas. Then I remembered online journalism in video games as a concept, and that led me to tech journalism, my current passion. Several anecdotes from those in the Apple tech journalism space suggested I simply need to get started writing, even if it's a simple blog, so I did just that.
My internet friend Bastian was looking for content for a blog experiment he was working on, so I started writing posts about WWDC and such for him. At the same time, I was following a bunch of tech writers and publishers on Twitter in an attempt to understand more about the actual job of it all. It was still a faraway concept at the time, and I expected to finish the military, go to college, and work at Best Buy or something while I figured it all out.
Then out of nowhere I get contacted by someone I had followed on Twitter that followed me back. My bio linked to the work I had done and mentioned a hope to get into tech journalism. It was Mike Wuerthele that reached out, a fellow nuclear Navy veteran that was the managing editor at AppleInsider.
He said he knew my training and wanted to tap into my ability to break down complex topics into easily digestible information, and my love of tech and Apple was a bonus. So, I already knew about Apple and that universe, I just needed to learn the writing style and other quirks.
I separated from the Navy in December 2019 and started work with AppleInsider shortly after. I was adamant about working from the iPad Pro and made it work despite the lack of proper cursor support. Thankfully, cursor support and the Magic Keyboard arrived only four months into my job.
The timing of everything was quite wild. I got my job in December and the world shut down soon after because of COVID-19. I'm so happy that I didn't go through with my original plan of getting some job at Best Buy while attending college; it would not have worked out well for me.
Time went on and I solidified my writing style, stepped in to co-host the podcast, and took on any responsibility I could without overdoing it. Now I'm doing a lot more than just writing simple news and I'm loving every minute of it.
I used the iPad Pro as my primary computer for two full years before shifting to the 14-inch MacBook Pro. That only lasted a year though, and I'm back to iPad Pro full time, with a dash of Apple Vision Pro and a Mac mini that is accessed over a virtual desktop.
It has been five years since I joined the AppleInsider team. Here's hoping for many more great years ahead.
Contact me:
wes@appleinsider.com