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Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Executive Editor of Business 2.0

By Zachary Mesenbourg

Sitting in an office chair, gazing out of a window at the Bay Bridge in San Francisco isn’t a bad way to get work done. It is also the place to be if your job involves covering and tracking changes in the business world and technology’s affect on it.

That’s the spot Philip Elmer-DeWitt finds himself in after starting as the executive editor of Business 2.0 magazine.

“When this popped up, I had the chance to live in a great city, work at a small publication that has room for growth,” Elmer-DeWitt said. “Also, it is a return to my roots. I started as a computer writer.”

Elmer-DeWitt had worked for Time magazine since 1979, becoming its first computer writer at a time when most people had no idea how profound an effect they would have. He also launched the Computers and Technology sections and helped start the Web site. He spent 27 years with the publication, 12 of them focusing on science, before jumping to Business 2.0 and back to his roots.

“I had been doing what I had [at Time] for a long time. There weren’t too many more surprises,” he said. “This is a new and interesting thing for me to do instead of more of the same. And this is definitely where the action is right now. The personal computer business is down the road in Silicon Valley, but the Web 2.0 stuff is really happening here.”

A defined role hasn’t been set in stone for Elmer-DeWitt yet simply because he hasn’t been with the magazine long enough, he said. But he has been doing editing, headline writing, story cultivation and, something actually new for him, writing a blog called Apple 2.0.

“The Apple blog space is pretty crowded. And almost all of them are kind of fan blogs,” he said. “That left an opening for me, as someone who loves MACs and can bring a journalist’s skepticism.”

Watching technology, computers and the Internet evolve into inseparable forces has been more than interesting for Elmer-DeWitt, he said. He covered all the topics back when the Internet was called the ARPANET. Then there was the rise of e-mail, bulletin boards and virtual rooms. By the time what most of us know as the Internet, or Web 1.0, rolled around, interactivity turned more into push this button or that button and see what it does, he said. Around that time is when Elmer-DeWitt started focusing on science at Time. But now, he comes back to the Internet at a time when Web 2.0 is taking off.

“The Web 2.0 stuff, uploading videos, encyclopedia entries on Wikipedia, diaries on MySpace, it feels like interactivity is coming back to the Internet,” he said. “What is really different from Web 1.0 is how to monetize it.”

Pitching Tips

The magazine focuses on business strategies and disciplines, innovations in technology, competitive business tactics and the integration of the Internet and other technologies into various industries. In general, it is “more valuable to pitch writers and reporters by beat,” Elmer-DeWitt said.

He does accept direct pitches about Apple for his blog. He is OK with some general press releases but said they will be forwarded on anyway.