Today, my friend and co-host Myke Hurley announced that he’s leaving 5by5 to pursue new goals and be independent again. From his blog post:
Today I am announcing that I will be departing 5by5 on July 16th 2014.
The last 18 months have been a tremendous experience, but it is time for me to move on to new things. I have new goals that I want to tackle, and to be able to do this I need to be independent again.
As many on Twitter have noted, this means that The Prompt and Directional are ending next week. However, as Myke writes:
My departure from 5by5 will spell the end of all of the shows I am currently hosting. However do not unsubscribe just yet. I am working with Dan to make sure that when the time is right, your feeds will automatically update to the new shows we are working on, so you don’t have to do a thing.
“The end” sounds like a big word, but for Myke, Stephen, and me it really isn’t. As Stephen notes:
Next week will mark the last episodes of Myke’s shows on 5by5, including The Prompt. To settle any doubts: Federico and I are 100% behind Myke, and we aren’t done doing things together.
Myke is one of the hardest working people I know, and I respect – and, in fact, encouraged – his decision. Myke has been thinking about this for months, and I know that he’s not the type of person who rushes into new things because of trends or just for the sake of experimentation. He’s working on great stuff, and I’m thrilled about the future of our podcasts. Stay tuned for that.
When Myke and Stephen asked me to be on a podcast last year, I had many doubts and held off for months before saying “yes” and starting The Prompt. Here’s what I wrote:
I am extremely grateful for the opportunity, and I look forward to beginning this new adventure with Myke and Stephen. I realize that there are several podcasts about Apple and technology nowadays; my hope is that, like MacStories, 512 Pixels, and 70Decibels, The Prompt will distinguish itself because of quality, not trends. Our listeners will decide.
I had no idea that, a year later, podcasting would be a major part of my work that requires hours of research and preparation each week between The Prompt and Directional. I am proud of what we did together and I am thankful to Myke and Stephen for the opportunity, and to our listeners for the passion, dedication, and attention they have shown over the past 12 months.
With The Prompt, I was afraid that we would end up being yet another tech podcast, and maybe we did, but we did it on our own terms and people liked it. Instead of talking about podcasting and complaining about the medium, we kept doing what we knew with our heads down, and I believe that paid off.
The situation today isn’t much different from last year – there are hundreds of tech podcasts and we’d be fortunate to find our own niche. I don’t know if there is a “solution” – maybe it’s silly to worry about having one – but I think that by staying kind, receptive to constructive criticism, and focused on having fun while doing good stuff, we’ll be okay.
I’m excited about the future. Best of luck, Myke.
