The HighTechDad Origin Story
HighTechDad isn't a superhero tale, but it does have a beginning.
It started with a problem nobody seemed interested in solving. Back in 2005, parenting sites barely acknowledged technology existed beyond “screen time bad,” and tech sites wrote like families didn’t exist at all.
Nobody was asking the practical questions: How does this actually work when you have kids running around? Is it worth the money? Will it still work after someone spills juice on it?
I had just become a father. Technology was moving fast. And I couldn’t find anyone writing about the collision between these two worlds.
So I decided to build it myself and become a technology blogger focused on this overlooked intersection.
This is the story of how HighTechDad came to be, why it exists, and why I’m still doing it nearly 20 years later.
Quick Facts
- Founded: November 3, 2005
- Platform: Self-hosted WordPress
- Focus: Technology product reviews, how-to guides, fix-it articles
- Perspective: Where technology and fatherhood collide
- Based in: San Francisco Bay Area
- Content: Hundreds of articles (possibly thousands)
- Model: Bootstrapped, independent, no investors
The book that never was
My original idea wasn’t to start a blog. It was to write a how-to book.
This was several years before HighTechDad launched, and I had a passion for helping people understand technology. A book seemed like the logical path. But there was a problem: writing a book takes time, and technology doesn’t wait for anyone.
By the time a book gets published, the information is already outdated. Technology moves too fast for print. I needed something faster, more flexible, something I could update and refresh with new information whenever it was needed.
Then blogging started to become more prevalent, and I realized: this is it.
Blogging gave me everything a book couldn’t. Speed. Control. The ability to publish whenever I wanted, on whatever topic mattered, without waiting for publishers or editors or distribution timelines.
I eventually landed on self-hosted WordPress because I could teach myself how it worked and control nearly every aspect of it. Design. Backend. Functionality. Everything. There were costs involved (hosting, software, domain registration), but that’s what being an entrepreneur means. You invest in what you’re building.
And it paid off. Over the years, I’ve learned so much about web design, hosting infrastructure, content management, and digital strategy that I now help other people with their website strategies. All because I dove in and figured it out myself.
So, on November 3, 2005, I published my first post. HighTechDad was live.
Building it on passion and purpose
HighTechDad wasn’t funded by investors. There were no partners. No team. No startup capital. It was completely bootstrapped and self-funded from day one.
It was just me, a full-time job in the San Francisco Bay Area, a young family, and whatever time I could scrape together.
I would write whenever I could. During my commute, at night after the kids were asleep, early in the morning before everyone woke up. My family came first, my job came second, and HighTechDad filled in the cracks.
What kept me going wasn’t caffeine (though there was plenty of that). It was the passion to understand new things, to figure out how technology actually worked, and then to help other people do the same.
I’m a teacher at heart. I genuinely love sharing what I’ve learned and explaining things in ways that make sense to real people.
That’s why even though most of my articles are reviews, I also write fix-it and how-to guides when I run into problems and figure out solutions.
If I learned something useful, why keep it to myself? I want to empower people, not just inform them.
That purpose drove everything. And it still does.
Tagline, evolution, milestones, and why it matters
How it all came together…the short version!
Where the tagline came from
When I started HighTechDad in 2005, I had just become a father. My daughters were young. Technology was everywhere. And I noticed something: there were parenting sites and there were tech sites, but nobody was talking about where they intersected.
How does this gadget actually work in a household with kids? Is it durable enough for family life? Can my children use it safely? Is it worth the price for an average family budget?
Those were the questions I kept asking, and nobody else seemed to be answering them.
That’s where the tagline came from: where technology and fatherhood collide.
It captured exactly what the site was about. I wrote from the perspective of a parent navigating technology in real life. Not just “here are the specs,” but “here’s what happened when I actually tried to use this thing while my kids were running around.” Sometimes I even included my kids in reviews to show how products actually performed when handed to the people who’d be using them.
How it evolved
My daughters are now in their 20s. The collision between technology and fatherhood looks different than it did in 2005, but it’s still happening.
The questions have changed. Instead of “Is this tablet safe for a 5-year-old?” it’s become “How do we navigate privacy in a hyper-connected world?” or “What happens when the tools we rely on become more complex than the problems they’re supposed to solve?”
But the mission hasn’t changed. HighTechDad still exists to help people understand technology, use it confidently, and make informed decisions about what belongs in their lives.
Over the years, I’ve written hundreds of articles (possibly thousands by now) across product reviews, how-to guides, fix-it content, and opinion pieces. The independent tech site keeps evolving. New technologies. New challenges. New ways to explain complex concepts so real people can actually understand them.
And through it all, it’s still just me. One person. Writing every word. Testing every product. Showing up because this is what I love to do.
Why it still matters
HighTechDad started because I saw a gap that needed filling. Nearly 20 years later, that gap is still there. Maybe even wider.
Technology keeps getting more powerful, more complex, and more integrated into our lives. But instructions keep getting thinner. Marketing keeps getting louder. And real answers, the kind that actually help people, are harder to find.
I’m still here because the work isn’t done. People still need clear explanations, honest product reviews, and practical solutions. They still need someone willing to test things, break things, figure out how to fix them, and then share what they learned.
That’s what HighTechDad has always been. And that’s what it will keep being.
If you’ve been reading for years, thank you. If you’re new here, welcome. I hope you find something that saves you time, frustration, or at least a few choice words under your breath.
Milestones along the way
By 2010, HighTechDad had earned recognition as one of the top fatherhood blogs, ranking on multiple “Top Dad Blogs” lists from publications such as Cision and Babble.
I was selected to participate in brand partnership programs with major technology companies, including Sony (DigiDad Project), Microsoft (Real Life Stories), Intel (Upgrade Your Life and Advisors Program), AT&T (Lose the Laptop and Lifestyle Tips), Trend Micro (The Digital Joneses), IBM (Digital Influencers Program), and NETGEAR (Ambassador program).
In 2013, I was interviewed by StartUp TV about my journey as a technology blogger and entrepreneur. The video is over a decade old now, but the spirit of what I said still rings true.
I also freelanced for online and print publications produced by AT&T, CDW, IBM, and others, bringing my independent perspective to larger platforms.
Through it all, HighTechDad remained my north star. My testing ground. My way of staying connected to what real people need when they’re trying to make technology work in their lives.
Want to learn more?
If you have more questions about HighTechDad or me, or just want to chat, feel free to reach out.
Learn more
This is the origin story of HighTechDad. What to learn more about me or HighTechDad?
- About HighTechDad – What this site is, why it exists, and how I approach technology
- Michael Sheehan – More about my background, career, and expertise
- Editorial Policy – How I work with brands, disclosure practices, and advertising
If you want to reach out, you can always contact me directly.
Thanks for being here.
