Peter Coffee
Encyclopedia
Peter Coffee is best known for his longtime role as a commentator for Ziff Davis
, where he was most recently Technology Editor for eWEEK
until his departure for salesforce.com
in January 2007. He has twenty years' experience in evaluating information technologies and practices as a developer, consultant, educator, and internationally published author and industry analyst.
Coffee wrote product reviews, technical analyses and his weekly "Epicenters" column on disruptive forces
in IT tools and practices; he has appeared on CBS
, NBC
, CNN
, Fox
, and PBS
newscasts addressing Internet security
, the Microsoft antitrust case, wireless telecom policies, and other eBusiness issues. He chaired the four-day Web Security Summit conference in Boston during the summer of 2000, and has been a keynote speaker or moderator at technical conferences throughout the U.S. and in England.
Coffee authored Peter Coffee Teaches PCs, published in 1998 by Que
, and previously authored Que's ZD Press tutorial How to Program Java. He played a lead role in developing eWEEK Labs' 2001 series of special reports entitled "Five Steps to Enterprise Security." His eWEEK beats included development tools and business intelligence products.
Before joining eWEEK (then called PC Week) full-time in 1989, Coffee held technical and management positions at Exxon
and The Aerospace Corporation
dealing with chemical facility project control, Arctic
project development, strategic defense analysis, end-user
computing planning and support, and artificial intelligence applications research. He has been one of eWEEK's lead analysts throughout the life cycles of technologies including x86 and RISC microprocessor
s; Windows
, OS/2
, and Mac OS
; object technologies, including Smalltalk
, C++
, and Java
; and security technologies including strong encryption. He holds an engineering degree from MIT and an MBA from Pepperdine University
, and has taught classes in the department of computer science at UCLA and at Pepperdine's Graziadio School of Business and Management and the Chapman College School of Business.
Peter is the father of three sons and is active as a youth soccer referee, Boy Scout
backpack leader, church choir member, and coordinator of his church's food bank program.
Ziff Davis
Ziff Davis Inc. is an American publisher and Internet company. It was founded in 1927 in Chicago by William B. Ziff, Sr. and Bernard G. Davis. Throughout most of its history, it was a publisher of hobbyist magazines, often ones devoted to expensive, advertiser-rich hobbies such as cars,...
, where he was most recently Technology Editor for eWEEK
EWeek
eWeek is a weekly computing business magazine published by Ziff Davis Enterprise.The magazine consists of a print publication and web site covering enterprise topics and is targeted at IT professionals rather than hobbyists.-Audience:The eWeek audience is actively involved in buying enterprise...
until his departure for salesforce.com
Salesforce.com
Salesforce.com is an enterprise cloud computing company headquartered in San Francisco that distributes business software on a subscription basis. Salesforce.com hosts the applications off-site...
in January 2007. He has twenty years' experience in evaluating information technologies and practices as a developer, consultant, educator, and internationally published author and industry analyst.
Coffee wrote product reviews, technical analyses and his weekly "Epicenters" column on disruptive forces
Disruptive technology
A disruptive technology or disruptive innovation is an innovation that helps create a new market and value network, and eventually goes on to disrupt an existing market and value network , displacing an earlier technology there...
in IT tools and practices; he has appeared on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
, and PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
newscasts addressing Internet security
Internet security
Internet security is a branch of computer security specifically related to the Internet. Its objective is to establish rules and measures to use against attacks over the Internet. The Internet represents an insecure channel for exchanging information leading to a high risk of intrusion or fraud,...
, the Microsoft antitrust case, wireless telecom policies, and other eBusiness issues. He chaired the four-day Web Security Summit conference in Boston during the summer of 2000, and has been a keynote speaker or moderator at technical conferences throughout the U.S. and in England.
Coffee authored Peter Coffee Teaches PCs, published in 1998 by Que
QUE
QUE or que may refer to:* Quebec, as an informal abbreviation* Que Publishing, a company which first began as a publisher of technical computer software and hardware support books...
, and previously authored Que's ZD Press tutorial How to Program Java. He played a lead role in developing eWEEK Labs' 2001 series of special reports entitled "Five Steps to Enterprise Security." His eWEEK beats included development tools and business intelligence products.
Before joining eWEEK (then called PC Week) full-time in 1989, Coffee held technical and management positions at Exxon
Exxon
Exxon is a chain of gas stations as well as a brand of motor fuel and related products by ExxonMobil. From 1972 to 1999, Exxon was the corporate name of the company previously known as Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or Jersey Standard....
and The Aerospace Corporation
The Aerospace Corporation
The Aerospace Corporation is a private, non-profit corporation headquartered in El Segundo, California that has operated a Federally Funded Research and Development Center for the United States Air Force since 1960...
dealing with chemical facility project control, Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
project development, strategic defense analysis, end-user
End-user
Economics and commerce define an end user as the person who uses a product. The end user or consumer may differ from the person who purchases the product...
computing planning and support, and artificial intelligence applications research. He has been one of eWEEK's lead analysts throughout the life cycles of technologies including x86 and RISC microprocessor
Microprocessor
A microprocessor incorporates the functions of a computer's central processing unit on a single integrated circuit, or at most a few integrated circuits. It is a multipurpose, programmable device that accepts digital data as input, processes it according to instructions stored in its memory, and...
s; Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, OS/2
OS/2
OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2," because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "Personal System/2 " line of second-generation personal...
, and Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
; object technologies, including Smalltalk
Smalltalk
Smalltalk is an object-oriented, dynamically typed, reflective programming language. Smalltalk was created as the language to underpin the "new world" of computing exemplified by "human–computer symbiosis." It was designed and created in part for educational use, more so for constructionist...
, C++
C++
C++ is a statically typed, free-form, multi-paradigm, compiled, general-purpose programming language. It is regarded as an intermediate-level language, as it comprises a combination of both high-level and low-level language features. It was developed by Bjarne Stroustrup starting in 1979 at Bell...
, and Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
; and security technologies including strong encryption. He holds an engineering degree from MIT and an MBA from Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University
Pepperdine University is an independent, private, medium-sized university affiliated with the Churches of Christ. The university's campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States, near Malibu, is the location for Seaver College, the School of...
, and has taught classes in the department of computer science at UCLA and at Pepperdine's Graziadio School of Business and Management and the Chapman College School of Business.
Peter is the father of three sons and is active as a youth soccer referee, Boy Scout
Boy Scouts of America
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions...
backpack leader, church choir member, and coordinator of his church's food bank program.