If you think our future is doomed you’ve gotta meet this 14-year-old.
Meet Daniel Brusilovsky. 14-year-old geek. “No budget” podcaster.
We talk about tons of stuff. I’m damn impressed. Anytime you think our future is doomed come back and replay this video.
He’s one kid I want to buy a new computer for. Anyone want to kick in some bucks? He’s using a really old crappy computer and doing amazing things.
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Robert Scoble works at Fast Company.TV (title: Managing Director). Everything here, though, is his personal opinion and is not read or approved before it is posted. No warranties or other guarantees will be offered as to the quality of the opinions or anything else offered here.
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August 3rd, 2007 at 12:25 am
My god, this boy is a wonderkid, 14 years old working with SharePoint!? Deploying VS and stuff? Doing Podcasting on Apple!?!!
My god, this kid is plain awesome
August 3rd, 2007 at 12:29 am
Yeah. He’s pretty fun to talk with. I knew you’d like him.
Susan Wojcicki is the person who owned the garage where Google started out. We both forgot her name. http://www.google.com/corporate/execs.html#susan
August 3rd, 2007 at 12:47 am
Impressed at his poise. Can he teach Lindsay Lohan (his elder) how to do something more useful with her life?
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:57 am
I’d kick in some $$$ toward a computer. I love seeing kids who are so focused and motivated.
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:25 am
His argument for Apple is way off - how can the way they keep their prices high a good thing? Competition is good for the consumer and this is epitomized by the PC market.
I would rather spend $200 than $2000 for the same spec any day - and thank the lord I don’t have to use a MAC!
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:27 am
Daniel is one cool mediasnacker - thanks for sharing.
DK
MediaSnackers Founder
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:37 am
Go youth! We will rule the world…
And then get old and lose it again in new and interesting ways
August 3rd, 2007 at 3:15 am
What a breath of fresh air..Robert If your serious I would gladly kick in some cash. Kids like this should be encoraged. EmAil me if your going to do this!!!
August 3rd, 2007 at 3:27 am
To buy Daniel a new Mac : http://www.fundable.org/
and let Social Networking do the rest ;-)
_Marc
August 3rd, 2007 at 4:03 am
Jesus, I’m getting old and useless fast. And I’m only 23. :))
August 3rd, 2007 at 5:26 am
Hey Robert,
Why don’t you set up a fundraising page so that we can all get this kid a new computer?
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:01 am
Once upon a time a man saw a butterfly struggling to get out of a cocoon. He felt sorry for the butterfly so he carefully opened the cocoon to release the butterfly. The butterfly died because the struggle was necessary for the butterfly to develop the strength to fly. Think about that before buying this boy a computer. He may be better off without it.
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:20 am
@Tom - and sometimes people take opportunities they have been given and go on to achieve over and above because someone gave them the chance. Could go either way.
Count me in for some $$$.
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:26 am
You had to got to a 14 year old to find someone to agree with you on Twitter and Facebook? :)
BTW: Facebook, it appears, is not a “walled-garden”: http://blogs.msdn.com/danielfe/archive/2007/08/02/not-all-facebook-data-is-in-a-walled-garden.aspx
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:28 am
I’ve been seriously considering starting a podcast to go with my blog. If only I knew I had competition in the under fifteen market. ;)
August 3rd, 2007 at 7:30 am
He sure is a motivated kid, though a lot of his podcast seems to be reading TUAW stories… which my bloggers wrote. Not sure how I feel about that.
August 3rd, 2007 at 7:38 am
[...] What the hell is up with our kids today? [...]
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:00 am
Great kid!!!
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:27 am
Scott: get him on staff and buy him a Mac and see if he comes up with good stuff on his own.
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:46 am
I’ll give some money as well, just let us know how.
August 3rd, 2007 at 10:36 am
It’s great that kids have all these free resources to create content these days. “Technology will be at its best in the next couple of years.” Not true at all, it will be constantly getting better. Apple’s products have this cult following I can’t understand. He hasn’t even tried these products, and he says they’re great. Oh, and Apple definitley wants to help people out by charging higher prices. Yeah right. HTML isn’t too impressive for fourteen year old. I’m impressed by the ability to make do with little money, and having a job. His comments aren’t very thought out, and I’ve seen better from kids his age. Hopefully he’ll keep learning and imporve his computer skills.
These new social networks are springing up all the time, but only a few can stand out. No one is going to visit multiple (maybe two or three) sites to social network. So the new networks need to pull people away from old services if they want to gather a user base. They need to include features to integrate with other social networks, and sports new features that people will want. Much easier said then done. If you don’t gain a user base quickly, you’ll be just another dead social network. It is getting to be a pretty large graveyard.
-Vainentree
http://thenerdcan.wordpress.com/
August 3rd, 2007 at 10:37 am
Whoops, I accidentally had my old comment pasted in their. Sorry about that Scoble.
-Vainentree
August 3rd, 2007 at 10:46 am
Keep an eye on Brighter TV, we’re both 14 year olds setting it up, it’s being released on Monday.
August 3rd, 2007 at 11:00 am
These are the kids in our classrooms. How do they go back to school in the fall after summer “vacation” when they taught themselves skills that will be ignored in most classrooms? His teachers can learn a great deal from him!
I love his confidence and drive.
August 3rd, 2007 at 11:01 am
[...] Robert Scoble’s interview with Daniel Brusilovsky, it inspires me to know that my son is very much a technogeek like this kid [...]
August 3rd, 2007 at 12:41 pm
[...] IT, managing Sharepoint, manage a company’s computer park AND… be 14 years old?? Robert does it well to show the world a kid who podcasts on Apple stuff, has it’s own blog, uses [...]
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:23 pm
I love this kid. But if his mother works at Oracle and his dad at another tech company, why don’t THEY buy him a new computer? They probably think he’s on the computer too much already :-)
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Thats great! Keep me informed on the paypal account. Hopefully more can be done in our school systems to foster this kind of enthusiasm for technology.
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:57 pm
Well, my parents aren’t the biggest Apple fans, and they don’t want to spend their money on a Mac! Thanks for all the comments!
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:14 pm
If Daniel’s parents can afford to buy their kid a new computer, I would say it’s up to them, or it’s up to Daniel to earn it by doing odd jobs like most kids do. They learn responsibility. Responsibility is still ‘cool’ in Silicon Valley, isn’t it? =
Donating money to a kid who comes from a family who have money is rather sad, don’t you think?
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:17 pm
PS Daniel, you are an impressive young man, but I’d more inspired by you if you donated time to volunteering at hospitals, maybe mowing lawns for old folk who have problems, that sort of thing.
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:29 pm
I volunteer at my school and at my local gymnastics center teaching kids gymnastics. I am a gymnast, so I help as much as possible.
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Here is my fund raising page:
https://www.fundable.org/groupactions/groupaction.2007-08-03.7716173176
Thanks everybody!
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Sorry, Daniel…I’m with your parents. Sometimes parents just have to make a stand against Apple products.
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:34 pm
It’s alright. My parents have never used the Mac OS X operating system, and they have never touched an Apple!
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Wow, this kid is awe inspiring. Good find! Keep up the work Daniel!
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Daniel, I’m glad to hear you’re into gymnastics, and you help out at the gym.
But I think it is important that one or both of your parents come into this comment thread and make a note that they’re OK with this fund raising drive.
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:58 pm
@27 Boo Hoo! Life is hard. Here’s a idea: instead of begging for a Mac,why not try earning and saving for one. I know its a wierd concept for your generation but it really is a co cept that works. I not sure how society will benefit from a charitable contribution to your Mac fund.
August 3rd, 2007 at 4:09 pm
My parents know about this, and they are so-so about it. As for LayZ, all of money is going to college, because in your generation, college was a lot cheaper. I don’t only think of myself, but others. I help out for aide’s and cancer foundations. I am not selfish. I think of others before myself. I just want to say that.
August 3rd, 2007 at 5:26 pm
[...] What the hell is up with our kids today? « Scobleizer Cool kid. (tags: podcast kid) [...]
August 3rd, 2007 at 5:29 pm
Everyone, please read this new blog post.
http://dbrusilovsky.wordpress.com/2007/08/04/thank-you-for-the-support/
I hope you will understand this.
Thanks,
Daniel
August 3rd, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Podetch content keeps getting worse, doing the seemingly impossible.
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Robert,
I will gladly chip in a bit for a new machine for this kid — Mac or PC. If you decide to do this, post about it and I will pick it up via Google Reader or the WordPress dashboard.
Best,
Jeff Ventura
GracefulFlavor
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:37 pm
Daniel’s taking the criticism very well and very maturely. I’m impressed and I hope he does well. As for fundraising, I’d vote for him doing the majority of the work via setting up a donations page, or working. This is the easy way out that he does not need. In a good twist, he will be donating whatever monies have been donated to him to a charity.
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:00 pm
His motivation reminds me of when I was a kid with my Commodore 62. I, however, did nothing interesting besides spend countless hours poring over Creative Computing magazine hacking in those tedious monthly programs.
More power to this kid; I hope he succeeds in his endeavors.
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:01 pm
er, Commodore 64… fat fingered my posting…
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:39 pm
@44 unless Daniel sets himself as a 501c-3 its not a donation. It’s no different than begging. Which, if it works for him…. Great
August 3rd, 2007 at 9:16 pm
LayZ, cut the crap. He’s just a kid, he’s only 14. Robert made a mistake starting this fund raising thing without having a discussion with his folks about it.
A fact, seemingly forgotten by folks, is we can’t just talk to and give money to kids online without their parents knowledge and consent. Forget the moral aspects of giving a 14 year old money without knowing if his parents are aware of the money, there are legal ramifications.
Daniel got caught up in the moment, and seems like a nice young man. He’s decided that it would be best not to do this ‘fundraiser’.
Him getting a computer, and how he gets it, is really between his parents and himself. Financially, the family can afford it, but have other priorities. I can respect that. Admire it, even.
But don’t forget: mature presentation or not, he is only 14.
August 3rd, 2007 at 9:57 pm
there is no need to collect money to get this kid a new computer, I’m sure he’ll manage with his home desktop and work laptop.
August 3rd, 2007 at 10:25 pm
A true millenial…
August 3rd, 2007 at 11:10 pm
Finally, someone’s starting to recognize that we teenagers are catching up! Some kids play competitive sports for fun, others are interested in electronics. I took college Comp Sci my freshman year in high school and, although I was the only girl and was definitely the youngest, I held my own just fine.
I know a couple of people who started IT companies when they were 14/15. It’s really not as uncommon as you’d think, anymore. They’re just pretty tough to track down, unless you happen to know someone who knows someone who knows the kid…
August 4th, 2007 at 9:52 am
If anyone would like to donate to my Leukemia & Lymphoma Society fund, here is the link.
https://www.fundable.org/groupactions/groupaction.2007-08-03.7716173176
Thank you,
Daniel
August 4th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Shelley is right. This was my idea, not really Daniel’s and I didn’t check with his parents first.
Daniel’s sending any donated funds to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fund. Which even furthers my belief that Daniel’s a great kid.
August 4th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
I find this so refreshing. I have been worrying about my 16-year-old neice’s hijinks lately-and the grief she is causing her parents. It’s good to remember all of the potential that youngsters have. I know that they’re not all this amazing, but this young man gives me a much needed fresh perspective. Thanks!
August 4th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
Wow this kid is amazing, and I can’t believe he is doing all of this at 14 years old!
August 4th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
@48 good point, Shelley. I didn’t realize this was Scoble’s dumb idea, not Daniel’s. My aologies to you, Daniel.
August 4th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
@GC: “I would rather spend $200 than $2000 for the same spec any day - and thank the lord I don’t have to use a MAC!”
Try to find a modern Core 2 Duo PC for $200. That’s right, you can’t.
It’s moronic statements like yours that make me uncharitable enough to entertain the thought of having ignoramus platform bigots banned from the Internet. I use XP and OS X everyday, and in case Windows bigots didn’t know it, Bill and Melinda Gates have donated enough money to Planned Parenthood to pay for over 80,000 abortions, which surely must have culled some future kids like Daniel from the human gene pool. Think about THAT next time you pay for Microsoft products.
Daniel, IMO, deserves praise for his ability to see a bigger picture, which is more than I can say for the lazy thinkers posting ignorant comments here.
August 4th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Daniel wrote in #39: “in your generation, college was a lot cheaper.”
Indeed. That’s why we’ve set up an investment account for our son, who’ll need it to fund his university education. I don’t want him going into debt - I didn’t have to take out student loans when I was in college because I had saved my high school scholarship money to pay for college tuition. My son uses an Apple iBook because I refuse to pay for Microsoft products that will be used to help fund donations to Planned Parenthood. The deliberate destruction of innocent human life has got to stop.
August 4th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
jmgoldstein wrote in #28: “Hopefully more can be done in our school systems to foster this kind of enthusiasm for technology”
No, hopefully more can be done to foster enthusiasm for clear thinking instead of media sound bites and infotainment. Schools are often purveyors of intellectual pap dressed up to look like mental nourishment. Don’t take my word for it, read what an award-winning schoolteacher discovered over a 30-year career:
http://www.johntaylorgatto.com
August 4th, 2007 at 4:20 pm
KC wrote in #1: “this kid is plain awesome”
Compared with an average kid who attends regular public school, perhaps. I went to a high school filled with kids like him, and many of my former classmates are now neurosurgeons, physicists, molecular biologists, and so on. But Daniel seems like a pretty good kid, and I pledged $50 towards the charity he designated. Talk (and blog posting) is cheap. We should put our money where it can do some good, instead of being used to kill babies.
August 4th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
In case Robert (and everyone else) is wondering why I have such a visceral reaction to his blog post titled “What the hell is up with our kids today?” — oh, you mean the ones who were allowed to live? Consider that Bill Gates was born into a wealthy family, and he dropped out of Harvard. Steve Jobs was born to an unwed graduate student, who gave him up for adoption instead of aborting him. Now, try to imagine how different the world might be if his mother had instead chosen to kill him in her womb. Daniel Brusilovsky is, quite literally, missing many of his contemporaries, because they were never allowed to live. How many “Daniels” are not here today because of this?
August 4th, 2007 at 4:41 pm
In #34, Rod Trent wrote: “Sometimes parents just have to make a stand against Apple products.”
Another platform bigot, apparently. Sometimes, parents just have to make a stand against arrogant ignoramuses who pollute the blogosphere. Daniel at least is open-minded enough to look at the merits of Apple technology, which is more than we can say for you, judging by your asinine remarks.
August 4th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
In #35, Daniel wrote: “My parents have never used the Mac OS X operating system”
Their loss. And I say this as someone who has used Windows on a daily basis since version 3.1 (1.0 and 2.0 were too immature).
August 4th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
Thanks LayZ.
August 4th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
He impressed me a few weeks ago when he interviewed me for his show at WordCamp. And then followed up a fe days later to thank all those he interviews.
Yes, he’s stuck me as a kid who will go far.
August 5th, 2007 at 4:24 am
[...] so I picked on Robert’s gem and blogged about some days ago. Now I went back to check the follow up on the comments [...]
August 6th, 2007 at 3:03 am
Great Kid …..
August 6th, 2007 at 3:05 am
one thing i want to say about this kid , he should continue with the way he is doing now and try to do best out of him .
August 6th, 2007 at 3:07 am
Continue doing great things ……
August 6th, 2007 at 5:53 am
re: 61.
I am impressed at how you have managed to twist this to your own agenda Victor, but perhaps this is not the best place for it!
August 8th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
I am not surprised at this Kid at all. Why call him a child genius that just makes us Technologists and Software Engineers look stupid. Of course he knows how to install Office, Ghost Images, write html and work with various other Software Packages, all you have to do is read a manual or look for some howtos on google. You would have to be stupid to not know how to do all the things this Kid has said he can do. My Mum can even do these things. If this Kid is a child genius I was a Child Prodigy and Genius writing my first Basic Programme in Year 7, without any help from the Internet, Mummy and Daddy.
All this Kid knows are the things us Technologists and Software Engineers have spent years and years working on. Useability!
All Software Engineers give yourself a pat on the back our programmes are so user friendly, even a Kid knows how to use them.
August 12th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
yeah… i gotta agree with #71. Calling him a genius is like calling all us technologists stupid. If you think a 14 yr old that ‘could install MS office’ sums up everything we’ve learned in 4+ years in university, you’re sadly mistaken. Most of the tasks he’s describing is crap that could be learned through google in about a week.
September 13th, 2007 at 10:39 am
[...] Universe and Tech Today is now writing for MacMegasite. If you haven’t heard of Daniel, see this interview with [...]
October 29th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Daniel (who I chat with semi-regularly now) inspired me to actually give podcasting a big shot.
Because of him, I went down to B&H and spent $100 on a podcasting kit (no hard feelings Daniel; it’s money well spent).
And because of him, I now have the courage to get my voice (my physical voice, which happens not to be the best-sounding one ever, and mental one, which doesn’t seem to flow as nicely as Daniel’s) to the world.