If you love anything Apple/Google/Tech related, you’ve likely stumbled onto one of the many 9to5 sites. There’s 9to5Mac, which breaks more Apple news than any other site, 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, and the latest, Elektrek. This empire of tech news was all started by one man – Seth Weintraub. Starting off as a small individual site (9to5Mac) for his own amusement while living abroad, the site has grown to be the best place for breaking Apple news, so we sat down with Seth and asked him a few questions.
Q: What was your background before 9to5?
A: I was in IT management/web development. I still have nightmares.
Q: What initially inspired you to start writing/blogging?
A: I moved to Paris after a particularly harrowing IT management role (or as an escape from it) with my wife because she had a fellowship. I decided to write about Creative IT management which is 90% Mac based – or it was in 2007.
Q: At what point did you realize that 9to5 was going to be a full-time job?
A: I quit my IT job to do 9to5mac full time, then I got a job at Fortune covering Google a few days later. They made an offer I couldn’t refuse and that’s what eventually allowed me access and the ability to diversify. I think Apple took the move to Google personally though.
Q: Of all of the 9to5 sites, which is your favorite to work on and why?
A: I’m currently spending a lot of time with Electrek.co because it is the newest and it is exciting bringing a blog from nothing to having a stadium sized audience every day.
Q: What emerging technology are you most excited about?
A: Electric Vehicles/Solar are the big ones and why Electrek is important. As for the future, Drones, IoT, AI, VR/Augmented reality, etc.
Q: What is your favorite or most-used feature/app on your smartphone?
A: Google Now/Siri just keep getting better.
Q: What inspires you to keep growing 9to5 everyday?
A: The community. I love the feedback, I love the communication we have with our audience.
Q: If Tim Cook and Larry Page were in a street fight, who would win and why?
A: Tim Cook is in probably better shape but Larry takes a lot of risks plus he could probably call in some robot backup if he wanted to.