I study technological change, intellectual history, and the interplay of media and creativity. I'm also passionate about the art of nonfiction writing.

I specialize in writing immersive, narrative history that sheds new light on the present. Much of my work delves into pivotal episodes and big ideas from the recent history of technology and culture.

My latest book -- The Philosopher of Palo Alto: Mark Weiser, Xerox PARC, and the Original Internet of Things -- was published by the University of Chicago Press in Summer 2023. It was included in the New Yorker’s Best Books of 2023 and featured in its Briefly Noted section, where the magazine wrote, “Tinnell’s profound biography evokes an alternative paradigm.”

The Philosopher of Palo Alto has also been reviewed in the New York Review of Books, MIT Technology Review, Corriere della Sera, on German public radio, and several academic journals. It was translated into Italian by Castelvecchi in 2025. I've spoken about the book at Stanford, the Palo Alto Research Center, Books Inc., and to research groups at Google, as well as on ABC7 Bay Area TV. A description of the book is available on the publisher's website and on Amazon.

My essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Boston Review, and San Fransisco Chronicle, and in numerous scholarly journals, such as Computational Culture, Environmental Communication, and Convergence. My first book, Actionable Media (Oxford UP, 2018), explored a new wave of digital art and communication that is emerging within the ubiquitous computing environments of smart cities.

I am Professor of English and former Director of Digital Studies at the University of Colorado Denver, where I teach courses on the history & philosophy of technology, digital media & storytelling, and narrative nonfiction writing. I also teach interdisciplinary seminars on these topics for our University Honors & Leadership Program. I hold a Ph.D. in English from the University of Florida and was recently a Visiting Scholar in Communication at Stanford University.

Contact me at: john.tinnell [at] ucdenver.edu