I Hate Goodbyes
I'm totally and completely bummed. And for reasons that I never ever dreamed could make me feel this way. I have been following this tech blog called Engadget for almost 3 years now, quite avidly. I devour every post with a feverish desire for more.
A year or so after I started reading Engadget, I started noticing the names of the authors. Some styles stood out, and you could easily make out who wrote those articles. The first name that really stood out for me, was Joshua Topolsky. This dude is amazing. He comes up with the best quips, puns and writes articles in a lavish way that makes you wonder - is he an actually existing human being? He also lead the team at Engadget for the past four years or so, as their Editor-in-Chief. He announced in a post a few days ago that he's leaving Engadget on 31st March, in a sorrow-evoking post titled Hello, I Must Be Going.
That wasn't how the barrage of bad news out of Engadget started, though. It all started with one of my fav-est editors on the Engadget team - Paul Miller. February 18th saw a post on Paul's personal website title Leaving AOL. For the uninformed, Engadget's parent company is AOL. In it, Paul stated that the AOL way of doing things was one of the reasons for leaving, as AOL seemed to increasingly see Engadget (or content) as a medium to display Ads with. I can personally understand the sort of greed that drives this - I see this in so many tech/sites in India even. (It is also one reason why we've kept The Indian Geek non-revenue-based, till now) I've been a Paul Miller fan ever since I learned of his enthusiasm for Pixel Density. Being an enthusiast of Pixel Density myself, I liked him instantly. And then I learnt of his love for Jesus. And, he wrote really decent, well-thought out articles. What more could you ask for in a guy you've never met? I was hooked.
The news of Paul Miller leaving Engadget was almost instantly followed by the news of Ross Miller leaving Engadget. I wasn't personally too taken up with Ross Miller, but he was part of my favourite tech blog - Engadget, and that was enough for me to feel really sad. He announced it in a post on his personal blog titled (very simply) Goodbye, Engadget. The fact that two fine Engadget editors were leaving right about the same time was sad, sad news for me. I was pretty down.
That was nothing till I learned of Joshua Topolsky leaving. A fellow-geek at The Indian Geek asked me "Why are you bummed about this?" I have no idea. I guess I just love Engadget and all things Engadget way too much for me to be able to stomach the fact that a man I really admire and who's been steering Engadget faithfully these past few years, is actually leaving. There might have been a tear or two, but let's not go into that now. Let's get to the next part - Nilay Patel, Associate Editor at Engadget has left Engadget on 4th March, and quite silently too. He announced that he had left, after news of him leaving leaked out yesterday - in a personal post titled It's Tomorrow. My liking for Nilay Patel started after his post on rooting and hacking his Motorola Droid X. I've since heard him on the podcasts, seen him on the shows, and just like his nature and his attitude. Basically, Josh, Paul and Nilay were the top-team at Engadget. And they've been pretty awesome. Seeing them all leave within the space of a month or so (alongwith Ross Miller's departure) is pretty depressing.
What could I do? Nothing. I don't know a single person in my friends' circle who cares. There are a few who actually read Engadget now and then. But none that I know of, who feel so personally about the Engadget editors. I just hope that Chris Ziegler, Laura June, Joanna Stern, Darren Murph, Vlad Savov, Richard Lai, Myriam Joire and Tim Stevens stay on. I really like them and their writing.
To close this post, I'd like to say that I'm amazed that a few dudes leaving a tech website at the other end of the globe could actually make me feel so low. I don't think I've felt this "low" since I heard of Petra's shutdown. Petra, is my favourite band of all time. The. Greatest. Band. Ever. They played Christian Rock, and they announced their intention of shutting down in 2005. I was devastated. I'm not devastated now, but I'm pretty down and sad. Guess the world keeps moving on, doesn't it?
A year or so after I started reading Engadget, I started noticing the names of the authors. Some styles stood out, and you could easily make out who wrote those articles. The first name that really stood out for me, was Joshua Topolsky. This dude is amazing. He comes up with the best quips, puns and writes articles in a lavish way that makes you wonder - is he an actually existing human being? He also lead the team at Engadget for the past four years or so, as their Editor-in-Chief. He announced in a post a few days ago that he's leaving Engadget on 31st March, in a sorrow-evoking post titled Hello, I Must Be Going.
That wasn't how the barrage of bad news out of Engadget started, though. It all started with one of my fav-est editors on the Engadget team - Paul Miller. February 18th saw a post on Paul's personal website title Leaving AOL. For the uninformed, Engadget's parent company is AOL. In it, Paul stated that the AOL way of doing things was one of the reasons for leaving, as AOL seemed to increasingly see Engadget (or content) as a medium to display Ads with. I can personally understand the sort of greed that drives this - I see this in so many tech/sites in India even. (It is also one reason why we've kept The Indian Geek non-revenue-based, till now) I've been a Paul Miller fan ever since I learned of his enthusiasm for Pixel Density. Being an enthusiast of Pixel Density myself, I liked him instantly. And then I learnt of his love for Jesus. And, he wrote really decent, well-thought out articles. What more could you ask for in a guy you've never met? I was hooked.
The news of Paul Miller leaving Engadget was almost instantly followed by the news of Ross Miller leaving Engadget. I wasn't personally too taken up with Ross Miller, but he was part of my favourite tech blog - Engadget, and that was enough for me to feel really sad. He announced it in a post on his personal blog titled (very simply) Goodbye, Engadget. The fact that two fine Engadget editors were leaving right about the same time was sad, sad news for me. I was pretty down.
That was nothing till I learned of Joshua Topolsky leaving. A fellow-geek at The Indian Geek asked me "Why are you bummed about this?" I have no idea. I guess I just love Engadget and all things Engadget way too much for me to be able to stomach the fact that a man I really admire and who's been steering Engadget faithfully these past few years, is actually leaving. There might have been a tear or two, but let's not go into that now. Let's get to the next part - Nilay Patel, Associate Editor at Engadget has left Engadget on 4th March, and quite silently too. He announced that he had left, after news of him leaving leaked out yesterday - in a personal post titled It's Tomorrow. My liking for Nilay Patel started after his post on rooting and hacking his Motorola Droid X. I've since heard him on the podcasts, seen him on the shows, and just like his nature and his attitude. Basically, Josh, Paul and Nilay were the top-team at Engadget. And they've been pretty awesome. Seeing them all leave within the space of a month or so (alongwith Ross Miller's departure) is pretty depressing.
What could I do? Nothing. I don't know a single person in my friends' circle who cares. There are a few who actually read Engadget now and then. But none that I know of, who feel so personally about the Engadget editors. I just hope that Chris Ziegler, Laura June, Joanna Stern, Darren Murph, Vlad Savov, Richard Lai, Myriam Joire and Tim Stevens stay on. I really like them and their writing.
To close this post, I'd like to say that I'm amazed that a few dudes leaving a tech website at the other end of the globe could actually make me feel so low. I don't think I've felt this "low" since I heard of Petra's shutdown. Petra, is my favourite band of all time. The. Greatest. Band. Ever. They played Christian Rock, and they announced their intention of shutting down in 2005. I was devastated. I'm not devastated now, but I'm pretty down and sad. Guess the world keeps moving on, doesn't it?
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Hope new people take up your favorite writer place.