Background
Bob spent his career at Hewlett-Packard, mostly in the Boulder facility, ending as a director of IT infrastructure when he retired in May 2024. He was, by his own admission, a holdout on smartphones until about 2014, when his daughter handed him an iPhone and refused to take it back.
He runs a free weekly drop-in called Seniors Tech Hour every Wednesday at 10 AM in the fellowship hall at the Boulder Methodist Church (eight blocks from the public library, where he occasionally crosses paths with Margaret). Bob's class typically has eight to twelve attendees in their seventies and eighties. He says the most common question is still "where did my photo go" — a question he answered patiently for the 4,000th time last week.
He joined opcionrural.com in early 2026 specifically to cover the topics he's been answering in person for three years: cases and accessories, how to clean a smartphone properly, hobby apps, and the general "what would a thoughtful neighbor tell you" category.
What he writes about
- Cases, screen protectors, charging cables, and other accessories that aren't junk.
- Cleaning, maintenance, and small repairs you can do yourself.
- Music, audiobooks, podcasts, and other ways to enjoy the phone rather than just survive it.
- Photography and bird-identification apps (Bob is an enthusiastic but mediocre birder, by his own description).
- The general "is this thing worth doing" judgement calls.
His style
Bob has opinions. He'll tell you when something is overpriced, when a feature is a waste, and when a beloved product genuinely earns its reputation. He doesn't pretend to be neutral when he isn't. If you want a guide that says "well, on the other hand…" about every choice, his pieces won't be it. If you want a friend who will tell you straight which case to buy without you having to read forty reviews, that's the corner of the site he covers.
Conflicts of interest
Bob held a small amount of HP stock from his employee stock purchase plan, sold within six months of retirement. He doesn't own any other stock in phone manufacturers, telecoms, or accessory makers. He pays for everything he reviews with his own money, mostly because he forgot to ask for a press discount until it was too late.
Verify his credentials
Bob welcomes credential verification. The institutions below can confirm his education and employment directly:
- BS Electrical Engineering — Colorado State University: degree confirmation via the CSU registrar at registrar.colostate.edu.
- Hewlett-Packard career: employment dates can be verified through HP / HPE's standard employment-verification service (The Work Number) for prior employees.
- Seniors Tech Hour: visitors are genuinely welcome to drop into the Wednesday-morning sessions in Boulder, Colorado. Address provided on request via hello@opcionrural.com.
- Direct verification: journalists, fact-checkers, and prospective collaborators may write to hello@opcionrural.com for credential confirmation; we reply within two business days.
Contact
Bob reads reader email through our general contact page, which routes to hello@opcionrural.com. He warns visitors that the coffee at the church is not very good.