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Darren Waters

Introducing our new SF reporter

  • Darren Waters
  • 24 Apr 08, 16:30 GMT

The observant among you will have noticed a cropping up in our news stories and features of late.

Maggie ShielsMaggie Shiels is the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½'s new technology reporter based in San Francisco and she's been tasked with reporting from one of the great hotbeds of innovation in the world. Obviously, every one of us who writes about technology and is based in London is green with envy.

Her presence in Silicon Valley strengthens our journalism and hopefully gets us closer to the stories that matter most to you.

Given her enviable position, it made sense to include her as one of the dot.life bloggers. So she'll be joining Rory and myself as a contributor.

Welcome Maggie.

Maggie Shiels

About Maggie Shiels

  • Maggie Shiels
  • 24 Apr 08, 16:22 GMT

Being based in Silicon Valley for the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½, I am in the greatest part of the world when it comes to innovation and technology. And that makes me one of the luckiest people in this business; to be in the eye of the storm when it comes to reporting on the next and the new that will change all of our lives.

I have worked for the ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ in many guises - from presenting on Radio 1 to working for . And from fronting news programmes on Radio Scotland to working as a stringer in the Bay area for five years from 2000.

One of my most 'notable' achievements was interviewing Audrey Hepburn and Spinal Tap. Not together I hasten to add, but that would have been some double act.

My timing seems to be impeccable, whatever way you look at it. I arrived in the Valley at the height of the frenzy of the dotcom boom - the days when companies that were going public threw lavish parties and spent a couple of million dollars on getting bands like the to rock the night away with them.

I watched and reported on its rise and peak and then its 'surprising' crash. I know, it seems odd looking back that no one took on board the fact that whatever goes up must come down.

I left San Francisco and the Bay Area after the 2004 general election and I did a bit of traveling after that with my partner before landing back in Scotland for a while.

This is my second stint here. And again I come back at an important time in the industry with the rise of web 2.0 and of social networking. Oh and did I mention there is another election that is really setting the heather on fire?

Talking of heather, I am also a Scot. I mention that apropos of nothing really, except that it might be of interest. Or not.

For excitement and relevance in the world of technology, the Bay area is simply bursting with ideas, talent, energy, and an amazing can-do attitude. People really believe they can change the world here and if their first idea is a bust, they just pick themselves up and keep on trying.

My son is nearly three years old and I look at how he interacts with the technology we have around us in our home. To him it's all part of the fabric of his life. He knows what to do with a computer, a remote control and a mobile phone.

It is that ease with which he treats all this gadgetry around him that makes me realise more than anything, I have to keep up with him or I am sunk. And if I want to get an edge over him, then this is where it is at.

And I am over the moon to be here and to be able to keep you as plugged in as I can with what is going on, and report on just who it is that is shaping our world.

Darren Waters

What kind of net do we want?

  • Darren Waters
  • 24 Apr 08, 14:51 GMT

Is the future of the internet threatened by a return to closed and proprietorial attitude to networks and connected devices?

That is the central thesis of recently published book: The Future of the Internet And How To Stop It.

It's a great title. And a great central question to pose to readers.

Zittrain is the Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at and co-founder of Harvard Law School's - which essentially means he's worth paying attention to.

I've just posted a feature based on an interview with him, which you can read .

In the book he gives a great précis of the net's origins and points out the great strength and weakness of the net - that its open architecture allows for incredible innovation but also leaves it open to attack and assault from malicious hackers.

He argues that the weakness is a price worth paying and questions whether the security that closed services like Xbox Live and devices like the iPhone offer is too high a price for the lack of innovation.

Do we want a return to centralised innovation, he asks.

Well, do we? Do you feel the open net, with its viruses and malware, should give way to a more centralised series of networks, which are perhaps more robust?

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