(Huge thanks to Mike for the idea and the title)
Last night I posted my 2000th post on Gear Diary. Yes, since I joined the writing staff of the site in July of 2008 I have written 2000 posts. (With this one 2001.) My very first post was a review of the mStation 2.1 Stereo Tower. My second post was a brief revisit to the Beyza Thinvelope for MacBook Air, a case Judie had previously reviewed. My next posts were of iPod and iPhone cases as well as a review of an external battery for the iPhone.
I mention these posts because three years and 2000 posts later a tremendous amount has changed but a much has also stayed the same. When I started on the site I was using a MacBook air. I currently use… A MacBook air. At that time I had an iPhone. I am currently using… An iPhone. At the time I used an iPod touch. These days I used… an iPod touch. 2000 posts later and I’m pretty much the same devices as before in their 2011 incarnation. Yes, as much as things change they seem to stay the same.
Then there was my 9th post and this silly graphic. It was entitled Apple- Are You Kidding (Mobile)Me??? It was a post calling Apple out for completely botching the rerelease of Mobile Me in 2008. (It almost led me to dump Apple products entirely.) Yes, since my first post I have had the opportunity to call out some of my favorite companies (Apple, Amazon etc) and some of my least favorite too (Yeah, I’m talking to you AT&T Wireless).
When I came to Gear Diary I also owned and ran what was one of, if not the, first sites dedicated to iOS app news and reviews. (In fact, when the App Store went live I spent 72 sleepless hours of my summer vacation adding the initial apps to that site by hand.) I had met Judie a year prior through a short-lived podcast we did together with a friend from yet another site; just another reminder that you never know when you will bump into some of the best people and that chance meeting will have a big impact!
When I left my iPhone app site a year later Judie invited me to get even more involved in Gear Diary; it is something for which I am eternally grateful. Through Gear Diary I have made some great friends, become familiar with some amazing companies and reviewed some awesome (and not so awesome) products. In the process I have had the chance to use my free/personal time to write about the technology I love, try out new products and, a few times, really break some important news. (Remember Kindlegate? That one sure came as a surprise to me!)
It only occurred to me later that I came to all this pretty honestly. I grew up with my dad doing research into Lasers and fiber optics for Bell Labs. Growing up all our friends worked for Ma Bell and my peers now include one of the top animation programmers for Pixar and a friend who helps write the code for a little thing known as the iPad. Yes, many of my childhood friends do this stuff as a vocation. It is not so surprising that I have found a small way to do it as an avocation.
So why Gear Diary? (and now New Gear Daily.)
Last fall I gave a sermon based on Simon Sinek’s book “Start With Why”. (The talk from TED that led me to him is embedded above.) Sinek’s basic premiss is this: Most people, companies and sites begin with WHAT they do and, because they lack of clear vision of WHY they do it they are unable to achieve long-term success. On the other hand, those that begin with WHY they do something and stick to it find that everything else flows from that core commitment. Gear Diary falls into the latter camp.
Judie started Gear Diary with a clear vision of WHY she was doing it. She wanted a site that was general enough to allow for a wide range of topics (even some that are off-topic), didn’t use jargon, didn’t speak down to people and had the kind of integrity that can only come when a site doesn’t jump on rumors, doesn’t allow nasty comments and honors any non-disclosure agreements that are made. That is what she built, that is what she has remained committed to, and that is the site for which I am fortunate enough to have now written 2000 posts. And because she is so clear on the goals, the WHY, Judie has surrounded herself with some amazing people. Yes, working closely with Carly and Mike and the entire team at Gear Diary (with a special thank you to Travis who came over to GD with me from that other site) is a privilege.
All of which is a long-winded way of saying, “Thank You”.
Thank you to Judie and the entire team.
Thank you to you, our readers.
Thank you to the many companies that work closely with us.
Thank You.
And since I did use Mike’s awesome title let me close with the gear I am currently using at this point in my Gear Odyssey.
My “Daily Drivers”
A 13″ MacBook Air with 4GB RAM, 256GB SSd and a side monitor for extra screen real estate.
An 32GB iPhone 4, a 64GB +3G iPad 2 and a 64GB iPod touch.
A 4GB Livescribe Echo Smart Pen.
A Canon G11 (AWESOME camera!)
ScanSnap S1300
My “I have them and sometimes use them”ers
A BlackBerry Playbook
A T-Mobile MyTouch 4G
HTC HD 7
16GB WiFi iPad 1
LoicTech SqueezeBox
Altec Lansing iNMotion air
My “I’ll probably pick them up if at all possible”
A new 27″ SSD iMac (I really do miss having a desktop after all)
The HTC Flyer (Yeah, the extra cost of the stylus ticks me off but this device plus Evernote?? Killer!)
Congratulations, Dan! This is a major achievement. I’ve really enjoyed reading your always interesting and topically diverse posts on GD.
As always, allow me to play the role of the tech-buying-enabler. WIth all of my mobile devices, I’d still never give up the powerhouse desktop machine. Even a fairly powerful macbook connected to a larger monitor just doesn’t quite meet big processing demands. And, wow, an iMac with an SSD!? Now I’m tempted…