Richard MacManus, who founded tech blog ReadWriteWeb all the way back in 2003 and served as its editor in chief, has announced (through a post on his personal blog) that he’s leaving the site.
ReadWriteWeb was acquired by SAY Media in December of last year for what we heard was $5 million. MacManus writes that he’s “confident ReadWriteWeb will continue to explore what’s next in technology with the thoughtful analysis you have all come to expect,” while he’s ready to start the “next chapter” of his career and write a book:
I’ll be announcing the subject of my book soon, after I’ve had a bit of a break from the blogging world. What I can tell you now is that the book will be literary nonfiction and focused on the things I’ve always been very passionate about: technology and the people who use and benefit from that technology.
“End of era” is a phrase that gets overused, but I can’t resist in this case. MacManus is the last of the ReadWriteWeb writers who I followed closely when I first started tech blogging in 2008: Marshall Kirkpatrick is now focused on his startup Little Bird, and several of my other old favorites are now writing for TechCrunch (not all of them came straight from RWW).
On the other hand, as someone who only joined TC in January, I can’t complain when blogs bring in new blood. For one thing, when announcing the acquisition, SAY also revealed that former Business Insider editor Dan Frommer would become editor at large, and he continues to write occasional posts. And of course there’s a full staff of writers and editors, so I expect that for many readers, it’ll be the same ReadWriteWeb.
Update: Dan Rowinski offers his thoughts in the comments:
Most of us at RWW have known about this for a while. We don’t want to call it the end of an era because we are still rocking out at what we do and doing it well. Richard will be missed as will all of our colleagues that have left us at one time or another such as Marshall, Sarah, Audrey, Alex, Klint, Jolie etc. The ReadWriteAlum is a strong group. I am one of the last of the old school group. I am indebted to Richard for the platform he created that allows us to be thoughtful, creative and analytical without having to be beholden to the rat race has taken over so much of the tech news cycle. He will be missed and I look forward to reading his book. (Actually, I am jealous too, I have several book ideas I want to write as well.)
SAY Media is a digital publishing company that creates amazing media brands. Through its technology platform and media services, SAY enables its portfolio of independent content creators to build passionate communities around key consumer interest areas such as Style, Living, Food and Tech. The company provides simple and accountable ways for the world’s top brands to engage with these passionate audiences, at scale, with a reach of more than 500 million people around the world. SAY Media is headquartered...
ReadWriteWeb is a blog that provides analysis of web products and trends. One of the world’s top 20 blogs, ReadWriteWeb speaks to an intelligent audience of web enthusiasts, early adopters and innovators. ReadWriteWeb was founded on April 20, 2003 by Richard MacManus and is now one of the most widely read and respected blogs in the world. It is written by a team of Web enthusiasts.
Richard MacManus is Founder and former Editor-in-Chief of ReadWrite. He left the site in October 2012 and is now writing a book about consumer health technology. Richard founded ReadWrite (then called ReadWriteWeb) in 2003 and it went on to become one of the world’s most popular blogs. In December 2011, ReadWrite was acquired by San Francisco-based SAY Media. Prior to RWW Richard did research, analysis and product development work for companies in Silicon Valley and beyond. Richard co-founded the Web...
Austin, TX
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
Boston, MA
Disrupt Europe: Berlin Hackathon
Berlin, Germany
