One of the biggest surprises in life is hearing from someone you have admired. In my case it was an email from Offscreen magazine. I have been a big fan of Offscreen magazine for a long time. None of its articles are available online. It is beautifully designed and it explores the human side of technology. And it is truly a one-man operation. It is the labor of love for editor and founder, Kai Brach. A former digital designer, he writes, edits and publishes the entire magazine all by himself. You can’t tell it from the way the magazine looks, the fantastic articles and interviews he brings together. It is meant to be enjoyed, as the name suggests, off screen!

A few months ago, Kai emailed and wanted to interview me for Offscreen Issue No.10. I was hesitant, mostly because in my head magazines are a medium where what I write is published. Nevertheless, my admiration for Offscreen helped me overcome my hesitation. Kai and I went through a rigorous interview process, though we never once spoke with each other. Our interview, was conducted via Google docs, where answers led to more questions. It was a fantastic interview process — I was irritated and amused and angry and happy and wistful, while writing the responses to somewhat pointed probing. I believe, an in-person interview perhaps would have been less effective. My dear friend Helena Price took the photos to accompany the article — and she always makes me look better than I look.

Well, Issue No.10 of Offscreen is finally out. The magazine is packed with stories about people who are friends or those who I admire. Scott Belsky, founder of Behance and Amit “SuperAmit” Gupta are friends. Andrew Kim of Microsoft is someone whose blog is very influential on some topics important to me. There are others who I don’t know well, but they are friends of friends and I can’t wait to read more about them. I look forward to Slack’s Stewart Butterfield’s Rules of Business. Alex Klein talks about Kano and computers. Kai, thanks for including me in the issue.

Candidly, it has been a while since I was excited watiing for a magazine. I have most of the past issues and I have never felt let down by the money spent on them. I am looking forward to reading Offscreen — hopefully you can order a copy or two.