So long, and thanks for all the fish
Tuesday, February 3, 2015As you may have heard, TUAW is being archived by its parent company AOL. The 10+ years of content that our talented team of writers and editors have crafted are due be folded into our sister site Engadget, where you'll be able to check out the archives.
It's been a long haul for us, from the heady early days of Weblogs, Inc. to the banner years when we had our booths at Macworld Expo. But unlike the popular annual Mac conference's official "on hiatus" status, this website will indeed be shutting down.
Several of us plan to continue the fun traditions of TUAW, and then take Apple blogging to places where it didn't go on this site. You'll be able to see us over at Apple World Today starting on February 9, 2015, and we hope that you'll not only join us over at our new home, but help us craft a website that will become what you want it to be.
As the TUAW blogging team scatters to the four winds, we all want to thank everyone who ever read the site, joined us for a TUAW Talkcast or TUAW TV Live, visited or partied with us at Macworld/iWorld, and followed us on Twitter or Facebook. Wherever we end up, if you see a familiar name on the byline of a post, say hello and let us know that you're still a part of the Apple community.
Oh, and if you're not sure about the reference in the title of this post, you really need to read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
TUAW Bloggers, Present and Past
Steve Sande (@stevensande, Apple World Today, podcast)
Mike Rose (@miketrose, Geekparent, podcast)
Victor Agreda, Jr. (@superpixels, site, video channel)
Mike Wehner (@mikewehner, Daily Dot)
John Michael Bond (@BondJohnBond, blog)
Yoni Heisler (@edibleapple)
Dave Caolo (@davidcaolo, Apple World Today, blog)
TJ Luoma (@tjluoma, blog)
Matt Tinsley (@mtinsleymusic, blog)
Richard Gaywood (@PenLlawen, blog)
Kelly Hodgkins (@kellyhodgkins, blog)
Michael Jones (@tuxtoaster)
Erica Sadun (@ericasadun, blog)
Chris Rawson (@rawsoncj)
Mel Martin (@melmazskies, blog)
Brett Terpstra (@ttscoff, website)
Mike Schramm (@mikeschramm, blog)
Megan Lavey-Heaton (@savvyliterate, Namesake Comic)
Christina Warren (@film_girl, Mashable)
Scott McNulty (@blankbaby)
Josh Carr (@joshcarr__ , ECIOV)
Nik Fletcher (@nikf)
Chris Ullrich (@ChrisU, The FlickCast)
Randy Nelson (@DangerPenguin)
Shawn "Doc Rock" Boyd (@DocRock, Macuser.Pro)
Kelly Guimont (@verso, The Mac Observer)
C.K. Sample III (@cksample, Meatgasm)
David Chartier (@chartier, Finer Things In Tech)
Dan Pourhadi (@pourhadi, blog)
Laurie Duncan (@macsamurai, blog)
Jan Kabili (@jankabili)
Damien Barrett (@damienbarrett)
Jay Savage (@jaysavage)
Fabien Serriere
Barb Dybwad (@doctorparadox, blog)
Dan Lurie (blog)
Cory Bohon (@coryb, blog)
Robert Palmer (@honestcode, blog)
Kevin Harter
Casey Johnston (@caseyjohnston, Ars Technica)
Joachim Bean
John Burke
Tim Wasson
Mat Lu (@matonmacs)
Joshua Ellis (@jzellis, blog)
Kurtis Seid (@KurtisSeid)
Jason Clarke (@jasonclarke)
Brett Kelly (@mrbrettkelly, blog)
Aron Trimble (@aront)
Samuel Gibbs (@samuelgibbs)
Giles Turnbull (@gilest, blog)
Rick Martin (@1rick, blog)
Michael Grothaus (@michaelgrothaus)
David Winograd
George Tinari (@gtinari)
Andy J. Williams Affleck (@aaffleck)
Jessica Buchanan
Regina Lizik (@ScarletRegina)
David Gluckman
John Emmert
Lauren Hirsch
Ken Ray (@macosken, blog)
Sang Tang
Kent Pribbernow
Todd RItter
Dan Fellini
Lisa Hoover McGreevy (@lisah)
Conrad Quilty-Harper
Marc Orchant (RIP)
Chris White (@chriswhite)
Chad Mumm (@chadmumm)
Josh Helfferich (@joshhelfferich)
Sam Abuelsamid (@samabuelsamid)
Justin Esgar (@justinesgar)
Dana Franklin
Paige Bierma (@paigebierma)
Ross Rubin (@rossrubin, Backerjack)
Ben Waldie (@applescriptguru)
Ilene Hoffman (@ilenesmachine)
Melissa Davis (@themacmommy, The Mac Mommy)
My sincere apologies to anyone I missed or for anyone whose information is incorrect or missing. Unfortunately, it won't be fixed anytime soon.
- Apple Remote Desktop updated with Yosemite support
- OS X Yosemite 10.10.2, iOS 8.1.3 updates now available
- Sports Illustrated 120 SPORTS channel comes to Apple TV
- Logic Pro X update brings AirDrop support, new effects, tools, and more
- Parallels Access 2.5 released, adds file manager, computer-to-computer remote access
- The Google Translate iOS app is about to get a lot smarter
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- Introducing 'Joystiq X Engadget': A new beginning
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- Great, another 'solution' to your smartphone's terrible battery life
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- There is No End
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TUAW (or The Unofficial Apple Weblog) is a website devoted to tips, reviews, news, analysis and opinion on everything Apple.
© 2015 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.
There's magic everywhere
The past couple of articles I've written about Apple may paint the company in a negative light. One might misinterpret those posts as saying "Apple is doomed." I think given profitability, cash on hand and product pipeline, that is a ridiculous statement.
Apple is moving faster, with more products and its biggest changes, than ever before. There are bound to be rough edges. That's the nature of the beast. Users like me may also see more rough edges because we're using more angles of a product. Sum total, there's plenty of magic at Apple. Because the ethos, the mission and the spirit of its employees hasn't changed. The people at Apple are the magic. Without them, there's just a really cool batch of hardware sitting in some offices.
So it is with TUAW. While our content will not be deleted, the sum total of our body of work will be folded into Engadget. Without a staff, however, there will be no new answers to issues vexing users. There will be no handy tips on how to do X with your iPhone. And there will be very little rumor debunking, PR fluff slashing... and no more Caturdays. Engadget will carry on with its stellar reviews of Apple hardware, however, and TechCrunch will no doubt continue to surface apps for users while covering the business details of startups.
Still, what made TUAW magic -- its people -- will move on. Steve, Dave and Kelly Hodgkins will be writing up Apple news at Apple World Today. Dave also has a fun project where he's reviewing board games. Kelly H., as some of you may know, has also been doing a great job over at MacRumors, and likewise Kelly G. is a valued voice at The Mac Observer. Mike Wehner is moving on to the Daily Dot, where I know he'll crush it daily. John-Michael Bond will continue writing and performing comedy, and Yoni Heisler will no doubt find a great place to continue writing insightful pieces.
A number of alums of TUAW have gone on to do amazing things. Mike Rose is now working at Salesforce, a company I admire. They were lucky to get him, as Mike is one of the kindest, most talented people I know. He has saved more bacon than probably all the copies of Charlotte's Web in print. Whether it was keeping his cool during our Macworld livestreams, or plodding through the hastily-written slop I handed him on a regular basis, Mike is a consummate pro whom I am very gratified to call my friend.
Then there's C.K. Sample, III who was my boss for a while, and really helped me whip my writing and view into shape. Laurie Duncan, who has boundless energy and incredible knowledge of the Apple ecosystem (she also introduced us to Mike Rose!). Scott McNulty and I once took a trip to Silicon Valley and had the privilege of touring Google and Yahoo together. Scott is one of the keenest intellects I've ever worked with, but he used his brains to lift up, never to denigrate anyone or treat them poorly. These former stewards of TUAW set a very high standard for me to live up to. They, plus the leadership of Brian Alvey and Jason Calacanis, really set the tone of TUAW in the pre-AOL weblogs days and beyond. I'm proud to know them, and to have been a part of their world.
The list of TUAW folks who have gone on to become amazing writers, coders or designers is also humbling. Too many to mention them all, but a few people really stick out in my mind for their continuing friendship. Nik Fletcher, who started at TUAW as a teenager, now has a family of his own. He's amazing, and I knew the "kid" would grow up to be a fine man someday -- which he has. Christina Warren, who went on to Mashable and can now be seen on TV quite often. Her energy revitalized me at a time when I was worried about the future of TUAW. Some day I'll uncover her hilarious Macworld Expo interview with David Pogue (lost to a video data migration ages ago). Erica Sadun was already an accomplished coder and author before coming to us, and her work continues to amaze me. I will miss her counsel when it comes to code.
Finally, two people who are brilliant coders but also wonderful humans. Michael Jones didn't write for us much, but what he did behind the scenes deserves some sort of award. He built an amazing dashboard based on my directive to "build a DRADIS for Apple news." Unfortunately it never came into its own, as our tool chain constantly evolved, but one thing we used every single day was IRC. And Michael made IRC magical. We created bots: Cambot, Crow and Tom Servo. Cambot interfaced with our CMS, and would tell us when posts were ready to publish, check style guide issues, look for tags, and more. Crow and Tom Servo gave us access to iTunes searches, TUAW searches, Wikipedia and more through IRC. Through IRC, people!
Brett Terpstra. Few people have motivated me as much as Brett over the years. He's got a great story about how he came to TUAW on his site, but for me, Brett showed me that design and code are integral. That coding is as much art as science. And, most importantly, how challenge brings out the best in us. Brett is as much a personal inspiration as a professional one. I'm happy every time I see him.
The past couple of years I had the honor to work with Paige Bierma, an award-winning documentary filmmaker who shot and edited the Slices of Apple series. She's one of the best people I've ever met, with a ton of experience and talent. I came to refer to her as our in-house videographer, considering TUAW started with nothing but handheld footage shot by bloggers.
The parade of talent here over the years is humbling. It's been one hell of a ride. But whatever we've done, we did because of the people at Apple. Their hard work and dedication brought a company back from the brink, and made it more successful than ever. More importantly, the vision of Steve Jobs and the work of Apple's employees has changed all of our lives, even the billions of people who will never know TUAW existed.
I'm proud we've been able to help so many users, indie developers and even Apple employees solve problems and basically make the world a better place to live in. There will always be bumps along the road, but in the final analysis we are so much the richer for continuing to strive for the best. I leave TUAW and AOL knowing that Apple, and everyone there, will continue to do so.
As for me, I'll be over at my home since 1999, superpixel. Thank you, writers, editors, Apple employees, developers, creators, artists and the crazy ones, but most importantly: thanks to you, our readers. Without your love and dedication we'd have never made it to our 10th anniversary. Be well. And don't forget to "just make it great."
- Apple Remote Desktop updated with Yosemite support
- OS X Yosemite 10.10.2, iOS 8.1.3 updates now available
- Sports Illustrated 120 SPORTS channel comes to Apple TV
- Logic Pro X update brings AirDrop support, new effects, tools, and more
- Parallels Access 2.5 released, adds file manager, computer-to-computer remote access
- The Google Translate iOS app is about to get a lot smarter
Popular Stories
Engadget
- IRL: Klipsch's KG-200 gaming headphones are a rare disappointment
- ARM's latest processor design puts fast 4K graphics on your phone
- Obama places modest limits on NSA data collection for non-citizens
Joystiq
- There is No End
- Joystiq Photo Album
- Off the Grid: The Witcher Adventure Game and Star Wars Imperial Assault
TechCrunch
- Fly Or Die: Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro
- Liftoff Raises $5 Million To Help App Makers Acquire Engaged Users, Not Just Installs
WoW
- Find out what's next for WoW Insider's crew
- The WoW Insider Show Episode 374: The End
- The Queue: And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make
TUAW (or The Unofficial Apple Weblog) is a website devoted to tips, reviews, news, analysis and opinion on everything Apple.
© 2015 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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