Bill Thompson (technology writer)

Bill Thompson
Bill Thompson in Cambridge
Born	6 October 1960 (1960-10-06) Jarrow
Nationality	English
Occupation	Technology writer

Bill Thompson (born 6 October 1960) is an English technology writer, best known for his weekly column in the Technology section of BBC News Online and his appearances on Click, a radio show on the BBC World Service. He is also an Honorary Senior Visiting Fellow at City University London Journalism Department.

Born in Jarrow, Thompson grew up in Corby. He graduated from Cambridge University in philosophy and with a diploma in computing in 1984. He was a correspondent for the technology programme The Big Byte on BBC Radio. He began to write for The Guardian in 1990, and in 1994 went to work there, setting up the paper's website. He left in 1996 to work as a freelance writer and consultant. In November 2009 he took on a role as head of partnership development for Archive Development projects at the BBC, working with Tony Ageh (formerly of The Guardian, now Controller of Archive Development at the BBC).

Wikipedia death hoax incident

On the 18 June 2010, Bill Thompson was the subject of a Wikipedia hoax where an anonymous contributor changed parts of his article on Wikipedia to indicate that he was dead, the edit was then erroneously added to with a good faith edit by an established editor. Thompson, after being informed on Twitter by Charles Arthur, The Guardian's Technology Editor of the change, then covered the incident on BBC News Online. He remarked,

I want to reassure you that I'm no less healthy than I was last Friday, still cycling at speed round the streets of Cambridge and looking forward to many more years of technology punditry, future dreaming and good coffee.

And although commenting that the IP address of the "anonymous" edit seemed to be also from somewhere in Cambridge and that

I've decided I don't really want to know who did this or why and can't see that anything good would come of being aware that someone I know thought it was a good idea to do something that had the potential to cause many people I love and care for pain and distress.

His final thoughts on the issue were summarised as

The great benefits that come from that freedom are so important that we have to allow that sometimes people will do wrong, foolish or hurtful things. I'd much rather have a Wikipedia that tells people I'm dead when I'm not than no Wikipedia at all.

Publications

• Your Own Website Activators series (17 June 1999), Hodder Children's Books, ISBN 0-340-73650-X
• Your Own Chat Room Super.Activ series (21 September 2000), Hodder Children's Books, ISBN 0-340-78482-2
• Homework Busters: How to Use the Internet to Be Top of the Class Internet @ction series (August 2001) Sterling Publishing ISBN 0-8069-3675-4
• BBC Webwise Column

External links

• Bill Thompson's blog
• Bill Thompson's personal website
• Working 4 an MP has technical support provided by Bill Thompson
• BBC article
• Pair behind first Guardian website back together for BBC Archive