Cheers, TUAW: Thank you and fare you all well!

February 3, 2015

Six year ago I arrived in San Francisco ready to cover my first Apple event — Macworld 2009. It was Apple's last appearance at the show, Phil Schiller was giving the keynote instead of Steve Jobs, and my then-boss, Dieter Bohn, wasn't coming in until later. I was alone in a new place, doing a new thing, and totally unsure how to go about any of it. Then I chanced upon the folks from TUAW.

It was Mike Rose who came over and said hello. He'd recognized me from my Twitter avatar, apparently, and had taken pity on my deer-in-the-headlights gaze. He and they couldn't have been kinder, more generous, or more welcoming. (I was more than a little star struck; I'd been reading TUAW for years). We ended up at a late night screening of Avatar with Dave Caolo, and a bunch of other The Unofficial Apple Webloggers , and it totally de-stressed what could otherwise have been a very stressful introduction to the Apple community. I will be eternally grateful for their kindness and generosity.

I met the astonishing Christina Warren, Nik Fletcher,Steve Sande, Victor Agreda Jr., Brett Terpstra, Kelly Guimont and many other TUAW-luminaries past and present that week and at events that followed, and every one of them, every time, was informative, inspiring, and just plain fun.

So, when it was announced that AOL is killing TUAW off effective Tuesday, February 3, 2015, I very quickly went through the 5 stages of internet grief.

TUAW's content will be preserved in archival form on Engadget. The confluence of unique and outstanding people who made up TUAW, however, will move on and their voices will continue to grace the Apple community.

I look forward to seeing what's next for them, even as I raise a glass for what was.

Cheers, TUAW team. You will be missed!

Dave Caolo shared his thoughts on 52 Tiger
Kelly Guimont did likewise on The Mac Observer
Harry McCracken shared a wonderful farewell on Fast Company

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