So Long James and Thanks For the Mobile Tech!
Has it really been two years and five months since James Kendrick and I joined GigaOM? Indeed it has, to the exact day, no less, and the journey has been one of knowledge, collaboration and community. But everyone has a different path in life, and today, James is setting out on his. After many posts and engaging commentary on mobile technologies here, James is today leaving GigaOM and will take up the keyboard at ZDNet in the near future, blogging about mobile technology.
I think Om said it best the day that James and I joined up with GigaOM: “jkOnTheRun is one of the rare blogs that covers the world of mobile gadgets with razor-sharp wit and insight. More importantly, it has a genuinely consumer-centric point of view.” It’s that wit and insight fused with matters that mobile consumers care about that James brought to GigaOM and, having personally worked with him since 2003 (even though we didn’t physically meet until 2005!), I know that James will continue to deliver such attributes to readers everywhere.
While we’re sad to see James go, we wish him nothing but the best. And of course, once he gets settled in his new digs, I’ll have a new mobile technology RSS feed to follow for coverage on our Mobile channel here at GigaOM. Good luck, James!
Thanks James for the great posts and many memories.
Thanks Om, for everything you’ve done!
Thanks Kevin!
So long James! ZDNet will be very cool now. Like you know, actually cool.
Bittersweet post. Best wishes on your new path, jk.
I bought an EVO and now a Galaxy Tab because of you (neither of which I regretted). I don’t miss a single Podcast and have grown to love the insight that you provide on various mobile technology.
You always bring a down to earth focus on tech and I trust the opinions of people who put their own money into gadgets.
Thanks and good luck!
I am finally gonna add my first ZDNet RSS-feed to the Google reader. It will be kinda weird to read your articles in a different environment but hey, i will get used to it.
merry christmas to all you guys and see you at CES.
Good luck James! Will surely keep following you.
Yes James best of luck. I remember when I first ran onto your site when you had posted about the Sony U1. Ever since I have followed your web site. With the great information that you would post. Now I will just add your new link to my RSS feeds. Now I will have 2 to follow at zdnet. :)
JK really is on the run now. Will be sure to check you out on the new channel over at ZDNet. good luck and have fun!
Wow! Congratulations, James! I remember when you were just a pup hauling 30 lbs. of portable technology around airports, and wildcatting for black gold.
Exciting growth and change. I’m looking forward to the new blog, but also to watching this one continue its evolution. Kevin’s got big shoes to fill, and it’s a good thing he has his son to help with the tough work of tech journalism.
Fantastic work all around. I hope you write a retrospective on all of this one day, James. You built up this blog before blogs were cool, but you also built a community.
James and Kevin are my favorite bloggers about mobile tech by such a long shot it is hard to calculate. I have so enjoyed Mobile Tech Manor and Mobile Tech Roundup (with Matt). So now two of the three MTR will be at ZD. Does that mean MTR might continue? It is one of the top two or three podcasts going (with Leo, of course).
Best of luck James and keep on truckin’
good luck and will follow you wherever you run.
Farewell James!
Thanks for all the mobile tech news. I will surely follow you over to ZDnet. JKontherun was always a daily visit, now I’ll just visit ZDnet as well. Congrats on the move!
Have a safe journey. Enjoy the crew at ZDNet.
Somehow, this news is not very surprising. Ever since jkontherun was acquired by GigaOm, I felt it gradually lost its unique appeal and found myself visiting the site less and less. It could be my bias, but James’ articles were less enthusiastic and sometimes felt they were written for the sake of meeting post requirements. I still love Kevin’s writings but they are scattered all over the Gigaom network and it becomes frustrating to find them. I miss the old jkontherun dearly and hopefully this change will bring some part of the old site flavor back. Best luck JK, and I will make sure to follow you.
I completely agree with this. JKOnTheRun used to be the first page I’d check out each day. I really enjoy both James and Kevin’s writing styles but felt they were being lost in the corporate web page that is GigaOm Mobile. I will stick around here to read Kevin’s articles and wish James all the best in his new venture.
I’ll second that. Its sad that the URL that was the go to site for mobiletech is now gone for good. Hopefully James will be able to get back to how jkontherun used to be at ZDNet. Best of luck James, you know we’ll still be following you.
I am a long time fan of you both. I love your writing and your friendship. James, I’m looking forward to reading what is on your mind.
Wow this is kinda shocking, I guess time changes everything. I certainly hope this is not a “physical” move (you’re not leaving H-town) and just a virtual move on the net only (much easier move for sure). Best of luck with the new gig and I will try to find you over there somewhere.
I’ve been following James on jkontherun for the past 4 years! I’ll have to track you down on ZDNet to keep up with your reviews man!
I have to say it has been inspiring to see someone turm their passion into what jkOnTheRun was. Thanks for giving us mobile tech enthusiasts a forum to share and discuss with others and I look forward to your work at ZDNet.
wow, for a second there i thought James had died, Kevin maybe should have worded that headline a little different!
not to be negative, but ultimately it’s probably good thing. i took this website out of my RSS quite awhile ago since it had become 1 of those quota-based articles per day that GigaOM is known for (too many wildly speculative articles that just feel way to “forced”) instead of that normal guy vibe who buys mobile tech & blogs about it.
although i miss those old days, luckily we still have guys like Chippy, JKK, & Sascha who keep things on an enthusiasts level & not that trend hopping overview look at tech like GigaOM/LeoLaporte types are known for.
He didn’t say “Rest In Peace, James” so I didn’t believe that headline signaled a death.
Will someone else cover the Android world at this site?
Thanks James for such insightful posts.
All the best from Finland too! Keep the videos coming no mather where you post them!
Podcast still stays the same right?
Jkk
Good luck James!
Bye, James. You’ll be greatly missed by me and every other reader of jk on the run. D,:
I’ll make sure to follow you, but I don’t use rss, it’s just a personal preference. Take it easy, and happy holidays. :)
As others have said, I too have felt that JKontherun lost a lot of the down-to-real-life-vibe that had me hooked when it was acquired.
James you put real life into your review of the Sony u1 and showed how it can work outside a cubical wall. If you can re-capture that magic again it would make all the difference in the world.
Cheers to your new position – James
As has already been said, I trust your opinion on mobile technology and you have ultimately affected my purchasing decisions for the better.
I look forward to seeing you in your future role at ZDnet.
Congratulations.
Wishing you all the best, James! Looking forward to seeing what you do at ZDNet.
I’ve always loved how James puts a personal touch on his tech reviews and articles. Will certainly be following him over at ZDNet.
James! You’re leaving Gigaom and going somewhere else??!!!
YAY! YAY!! YAAY!!!
YAHOO!! YAHOOOOO!
Why did it take so long??!!
YAY! YAY!!
YAHOOOOO!!!
Rodney
Congratulations on the new gig, James. Good luck with your new adventures.
I’ve been following JKOnTheRun since your geophysical consulting days and have enjoyed your many practical reviews and thoughts. Will miss the posts on MTM. Wishing you the best of luck in your new gig – Keep us posted on when that kicks in.
My first response was WTF followed by OMG I can’t believe this.
It looks like JK is definitely “On The Run”, in fact he done RUN OUTA THERE !!!
I did notice things started changing on this site after the following events occurred:
1 – You guys dropped your Apple phones and jumped on the Android wagon and articles now are heavily skewed toward Android IMO.
2 – The look & feel of the website started massively changing.
3 – Kevin’s volume of articles became eratic.
4 – JK’s beloved MTM articles changed.
5 – JK articles started getting drowned out by other GigaOM articles needlessly interweaved with his blogs.
6 – Seems like the articles started getting to be more “professional/corporate type” instead of staying more the “averagejoe/enthusiasts type” of articles.
So I am NOT surprised he left as this site no longer resembles the original JKontherun’s feel and content at all.
I sincerely hope everything works out for the better for James with his new endeavor and I will continue to view his take on technology as he is a very wise man.
Definitely some valid points that I can’t argue. In light of that I’ve had some productive editorial conversations today around bringing some of the more personal, consumer-focused bits back. More to follow, but I wanted to chime in because we always did take feedback seriously and we’ll continue to do. Stay tuned! :)
Good luck James! Like others, I want to extend my thanks for all your insights and commentary. I’ll be looking for you on the Web.
Great news! JKontheRun was getting too corporate..I had stopped reading as much..but now I am eager for the new digs.
Congrats! … but I hope this does not change the podcast. I like the chemistry between you all. Now it will be 2 ZDNet’ers and I GigaOM guy.
I stopped reading this site and listening to the podcast about a year or so ago, due to the increasing number of gigaom spam on the site. How egocentric do you have to be to name your site network giga*firstname*? I only noticed that JKOTR was dead and now “gigaom mobile” a couple of weeks ago by random, then someone tipped me about James leaving today… good for you! Hopefully Kevin will follow, JKOTR’s greatness has been slowly consumed by corporate zombies since GalacticpresidentOm…I mean GigaOm bought it.
Best of luck James and I hope the MTR podcasts can continue in some form. You bring a real enthusiasm and human side to the world of tech blogging and you, Kevin, Matt, jkkmobile, Chippy and Sasha are the best in the business. Happy holidays.
Wow, huge news! Congrats James on your new position. I will definitely miss your presence here. Can you call your new column on ZDNet jkOnTheRun? That would be sweet. :) I hope you’re still going to keep up with MoTR. Now Kevin will be outnumbered on the show, two ZDNet-ers to one. :) Best of luck!
Also, best of luck to Kevin, holding down the fort here! :)
Just double checked my mobile calendar, nope it is not April 1st.
Tried the pinch-myself test, yep everything seems real and not a dream.
Well heading for the fridge for some cold ones to clear my head and better absorb and process this news….
Did this really happen ?
- Bud
I think the first mobile tech piece I ever read was one written by James Kendrick (I found jkontherun quite by accident several years back), and have read the site regularly since then. I, too, have noticed lots of changes — not for the better — in the past few months. I really hope this move is a good one for you, James, and I will definitely follow you over to ZDNet. I’ll continue to check in here, too, but a lot of the heart and soul of the site have been lost, in my view.
I used enjoy JKontheRun much more before it was taken over. Since takeover it has become much less interesting and the fact that the jkontherun domain now resolves into a collection of mobile bloggers has made it much less interesting and more of a commercial nature.
Looking forward to trying out ZDnet.
James,
So happy you are leaving. I agree with the others who have discussed the insidious corporate changes with the migration to gigaom. Thanks for everything over the years. Please give an update as to what will happen to the podcast. Also, I am looking forward to a retrospective of this whole experience. Thanks again!
James, Always sad to watch the end of an era but I am pleased that you have found a new home to continue your contributions to the mobile community. Looking forward to what’s next
You know, for as long as I’ve been coming here, it’s been by entering jkontherun.com (or later, just “JK” and my browser would bring me here).
I’m sure I noticed it was GigoOm or something officially, but I never really paid attention.
Thanks for sharing (and encouraging) our love of all things Mobile Tech. I guess this means I’ll now have Two great mobile blogs to visit in the future.
Too bad you and Kevin couldn’t have worked something out with Chippy. It would have sort of like getting the old band together.
James,
I have never commented on here, but as a young mobile tech enthusiast and viewer of your video reviews on various gadgets, etc, I wish you only the best. Thank you for filling the void in my much needed late night geek time for the past year and a half.
Take care, you seem like a really good person and an overall genius when it comes to technology.
Man! I can’t believe how adrift I have been. Just shows what happens if I take my eye off the ball!!
I came across James’ ZDN stuff and added it to my Google but it never entered my head that it was a change if base for him.
I started with JKOTR and I will continue, along with catching up on a few months of podcasts. Tech progresses and so does life.
All the best to James and I shall follow both strands and try to keep up more in future :-)
Cheers
Phil