The Verge co-founder Dieter Bohn decides to hang up his pen and venture into new territory with Google's Platforms & Ecosystems team. He announced his departure via a heartfelt editorial published in The Verge's website.
20 Years in Tech Journalism
It took 20 years in media and 10 years as a technology news platform executive for Bohn to explore a new career path.
Bohn's journalism career was fruitful, to say the least. He co-founded The Verge with a simple vision that eventually came to life and helped shape the way people see technology.
Bohn shared his thoughts at the time of founding The Verge:
"We founded The Verge with some grand ideas about how to do technology journalism differently. We started with the thesis that technology - especially consumer technology - creates culture. It seemed like a very big idea at the time, but it has turned out to be bigger than even we could have imagined," wrote Bohn.
Being a true gadget head, Bohn leveraged his love for consumer technology to become a well-known tech journalist all around the world. He has appeared on CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, NPR, among others and has a Twitter account with 197.8K followers as of this writing.
Bohn is most notable as an authority in reviewing Android and Android phones. He's been doing reviews of the device since the very beginning.
Technology is Culture
Bohn is a true pioneer in the field of consumer technology. No one batted an eye when he preached to random people about the wonders of gadgets and how it would change the world.
He shared an anecdote on how his professor did not take his ideas that seriously:
"I distinctly remember pulling a professor aside and showing them my Handspring Visor PDA. It wasn't just a planner, I said; it was also an entertainment device with music, a camera, a research device. I created a tiny app for tracking my studies and adding marginalia to digitally scanned quotes. That professor found it interesting but didn't think it was important."
Now, technology is deeply embedded in everyone's lives. The internet used to be a luxury but is now so much a need that nations plea to tech giants to supply them internet connectivity.
"Technology itself is culture, and a phone or a laptop or an algorithmic feed is in itself a cultural object just as worthy of analysis, critique, and serious attention as any piece of artwork or fashion trend," wrote Bohn.
Next Stop: Google
Bohn will take his talents to Google's Platforms & Ecosystems team, but his role remains undisclosed.
Little information can be found on the exact function of the team, but Bohn's farewell message suggests that they work on the development of Android and Chrome.
Fans are looking forward to what Bohn can offer in the future.
Perhaps Bohn's career move was inevitable. He already had great ideas for Google which he shared in an Ask Me Anything (AMA) he did on Reddit in 2020.
