John was born in Bellingham, Washington, and lived in the area until 1974, when he began his professional career as an engineer with Hewlett Packard Company. John worked for Hewlett Packard for 12 years, where he held various technical and marketing positions at the company. In 1986 he joined Microsoft Corporation and managed several organizations, most recently as General Manager of Worldwide OEM Sales and Marketing. John retired from Microsoft in February 2001 and now serves on several boards, including the Spark Museum of Electrical Invention, where he is President & CEO. He is a member of several professional associations including the History of Science Society and the IEEE. His interests include the history of science and technology, electronic and computer related technologies, and nearly 50 years as a collector of early radio and electrical scientific apparatus. John's personal collection includes many one of a kind items dating back to the 16th century. John lectures and writes on topics related to the history of technology, and in his free time he can be found hiking in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest with his wife and two Labrador retrievers.