Ryan Block » Company X

A little bit on the new site, gdgt

Ryan Block — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:10:52 +0000

So we’re calling the new site gdgt (spoken as four letters, like g-d-g-t, but you can say “gadget” if you like), and we’ve still got our work cut out for us before we have a proper launch. But there was one thing Peter and I knew we had to take care of early on, something a lot of people made abundantly clear they felt was missing: we had to get our show back on the air.

It’s been a year since we hung up our mics at Engadget, but we’re finally back with our new gadget podcast, gdgt weekly! The first episode’s already up, so head over to gdgt to grab it / subscribe. Oh, there’s another bit, too.

We’re also announcing our first two advisors to gdgt, two good friends of mine: Josh Topolsky, editor of Engadget, and Brian Lam, editorial director of Gizmodo. Yeah, I know, just blew your mind: people from Engadget and Gizmodo collaborating on something. Together. Of course, the reality isn’t all that weird when you think about things.

It may not have shone through in the various articles trumping up the Engadget / Gizmodo rivalry, but believe it or not, Brian Lam and I are actually pals outside of work — have been for years. In fact, a side story neither of us ever told publicly was that I actually tried to hire Brian when he was on his way out of Wired, just before Gawker snagged him for Giz. I pitched hard, but in the end, as he put it recently, “It wouldn’t have been as much of a challenge.” Of course, he was totally right — he accepted the greater challenge and put Gizmodo back on the map.

Josh, of course, is one of the most brilliant people I’ve ever met — someone with a natural eye for content and gadget world, who I’m totally proud to have take over as Engadget’s editor in chief. So maybe it’s time to look at this space a little more holistically; or, as Brian said, get some Voltron action going on.

Last day (sort of)

Ryan Block — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 19:45:21 +0000

Strange how the timing on some of this stuff worked out: my last day as editor of Engadget is almost exactly one year to the day after Josh, Pete, and I — the first three editors-in-chief of the site — published our letter to Palm. (Naturally, I had to follow it up in my new column, Engadget Cares.) Even though I’ll be staying on as editor-at-large, leaving has still been a pretty emotional process; thankfully, I feel really secure in the team at hand, the state of the site, and its future ahead under my man Josh.

At the same time, Peter and I are also really looking forward to launching our new company. Having tackled the news thing, we’ve spent a long time dreaming about the kind of gadget site we might like to make next. So you can expect we’ll be hard at work behind the scenes hammering it out — more on that soon enough!

Yep, I’m leaving Engadget

Ryan Block — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:00:02 +0000

It’s true, my last day as Engadget’s editor-in-chief will be late next month (my official announcement is here).

Without question, this has been the hardest decision I’ve ever made, but I know it’s the right one. And as much as I’m looking forward to new challenges (and grateful they’re not Motorola-related), I’m also really excited to see Engadget continue its evolution with Josh at the helm, and as part of the AOL Tech network (where I’ll continue to play an advisory role as editor-at-large). Pete and I are both pretty happy with how things worked out, and are definitely looking ahead. (You’re following us on Twitter, right?)

As much as wish I could, for the time being I really can’t talk very much about the details of the new company (which does not yet have a name). I’m pretty stoked though — promise, you’ll hear more soon.