So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish

A little over 10 years ago, Adam Turner and Alex Kidman (hey, that’s us!) kept running into each other, finding ourselves talking at a variety of technology press conferences, conventions and product launches.

Talking a lot — mostly about technology, its impact on the world and how it’s communicated to the wider public. As fellow freelance journalists, we decided we wanted to work on something together, and hit on the idea of creating a Vodcast on YouTube.

Of course, we looked a little younger a decade ago. It’s not the years honey, it’s the mileage.

Vertical Hold later became a podcast, and not long after transformed into Vertical Hold: Behind The Tech News, featuring not just the insights and views of Alex and Adam, but also a who’s who of the finest of Australia’s technology media from mastheads including The SMH, The Australian, The Courier Mail, The Age, The Australian Financial Review, CNET, Gizmodo Australia, PC World, Kotaku Australia, Finder, Whistleout, Reviews.Org/AU, The Register, MacWorld Australia, ZDNet Australia… you get the idea, and we’re probably forgetting more than a few!

When we took a much-needed break at the end of last year, it was with the intent to return in 2024, albeit a little later than usual. We already had more than 450 episodes in the can, not to mention a shiny Australian technology journalism award for Best Independent Coverage.

However, unfortunately schedules have shifted for both Adam and Alex. The commercial realities of podcasting have led us to the position where we’re unfortunately going to have to wind down Vertical Hold… at least for now.

Before we go, we’d like to thank all of our guests over the years, because their insight into the week’s technology news really made Vertical Hold what it was. We literally couldn’t have done it without each and every one of you willing to give your time, your insight and often your patience with miscreant microphones and online podcast recording platforms that, let’s just say, had their own quirks.

We’d also like to thank all the great sponsors who made it possible for us to produce Vertical Hold every week for a decade. Again, without your generous financial support we wouldn’t have been able to keep the podcast running for as long as we did.

And of course, we also have to thank all of the listeners for their patronage, questions, feedback, tips and encouragement. Journalism is a profession that should serve its audience, and we hope that we’ve served you well.

Naturally, both Adam and Alex continue to be prolific in the IT technology journalism space; you can find Adam at adamturner.com.au, while Alex can be found at alexkidman.com and alexreviewstech.com. Thanks for joining us for a great decade of podcasting.