A little bit on the new site, gdgt
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.
