Hi, I’m Judie Lipsett Stanford, Gear Diary’s founder, owner, and Editor-in-Chief. I started as a product reviewer in late 1999 when I responded to a “looking for a software reviewer” request on the now-defunct smaller.com.
By mid-2000, I was an occasional reviewer at The Gadgeteer. Within six months, I had become Julie Strietelmeier‘s writing partner. For the next six years, I had the privilege of being part of The Gadgeteer’s enormous growth from a well-regarded enthusiast site into a worldwide-recognized authority on gadgets, gizmos, and accessories.
In fact, in 2006, The Gadgeteer was recognized on CNET’s “Blog 100” list, back when “more than 14 million blogs were in existence that year and another 80,000 were created each day.”
Due to my years at The Gadgeteer and my ongoing work here at Gear Diary, I have earned a solid reputation as a respected gadget reviewer.
This is the part of my biography where I am supposed to brag a bit, so bear with me: Over the years, I’ve been mentioned in (or I’ve been interviewed by) Popular Science, Tech Media Today, The New World of Communication, and many other online, television, radio, and print sources. I’ve been profiled by several online sites, including The Gadgeteer, Born Rich, My Open Wallet, Elite Choice, and Rohdesign, and my reviews are regularly quoted all over the web.
I co-wrote a monthly column, “Gadget Lust,” with Julie Strietelmeier for the Philippine magazine The Reviewer. From 2010 to 2011, I was also the Android app review editor for T-Mobile’s myTouch 100% You magazine.
Moving right along: I received the 2006 Sigma Kappa Colby Award for Technology (my sorority’s highest honor!) and was a member of Möbius, Microsoft’s (now-defunct) “invitation-only community of the world’s most influential technology pundits and online writers” from 2001 through 2008.
I have served on the judging panel for Handango’s and SmartPhone & Pocket PC Thoughts’ software awards, the AOTMP Mobility Awards, CES’s Mobile Apps Showdown event, and CES’s Last Gadget Standing. I am a current member of the IFA Media Board.
In addition to writing and editing at Gear Diary, I have contributed to Consumers Digest, Chip Chick, Device Diary, Girls Gone Mobile, MYiPhone, pocketnow.com, Geek.com, Just Another Mobile Monday, SlashGear, Clinton Fitch.com, Pocket PC Thoughts, and co-hosted the Just Another iPhone Chat podcast.
Just looking at this list of sites that have come and gone over the years reminds me of how much of a struggle it is to start, grow, and maintain a blog! I salute all of my friends who have started sites that are still going (and growing); I know exactly what you have struggled with, dealt with, and lost sleep over. You rock!
I started Gear Diary on September 30, 2006, and my goal was that this site wouldn’t be easily labeled. We all have gear that we use daily – some of it electronic and some of it not; I think it is fascinating to explore the equipment that makes our lives easier, more entertaining, more productive, and more manageable.
My hope is that Gear Diary visitors will find this site to be a comfortable, inclusive, and friendly place to learn about interesting items—and not only those that are tech-related! Gear Diary is a place for you to discover and explore new gear—everything from phones, computers, kitchen gadgets, camping gear, and maybe even your next new car. We also talk about things that are happening in this crazy world that we live in.
My specialty is in-depth reviews written in layman’s terms because I feel that now — more than ever — everyone can understand technology; sometimes, it just takes a little translating.
You can watch Gear Diary’s YouTube videos, peruse my Amazon Wish List, or send me an email. You can find me on Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Pinterest, and Instagram.
As far as gear goes, I try to remain device-agnostic, which means the iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone Air, the OPPO Find N6, and the moto razr fold take turns being my daily drivers. However, I often swap the SIM card out of the Android devices for other phones as they come in for review. My main computer is a 16″ Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9, and away from the office, I use a 14″ Lenovo ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition Gen 1.