Carl Powell III, the author of Network Your Mac, has owned and operated AlaTec Associates, a consulting firm specializing in networking and support for Macintosh, since January 1997. Prior to this he was the K-12 Sales Agent with Dataflex for Apple Computer, Inc. for the State of Alabama. Formerly, Powell was a Senior Member of the Technical Staff at BOEING Computer Support Services at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center where he supported a large group of Mac users and acted as LAN Manager for the group.

Carl has been working with Macintosh computers since 1984 and has operated and programmed computers since 1977. From 1984 until 1990, he owned and operated Apple Computer retail stores in Florence, Alabama and Huntsville, Alabama. Currently, there are six Macintosh computers in four different rooms in his home, networked using LocalTalk and Ethernet, using existing phone wiring and additional wiring, all connected to the internet using an ISDN connection.