Happy belated 5th birthday to ZDNet Mobile Gadgeteer

I was planning to post a 5th birthday article for my Mobile Gadgeteer blog in August because that is when I thought I started here. As I started to prepare this post I went into the archives and saw that my very first post was made here on 23 May 2006 and so this is a belated birthday post. Time flies when you are having fun and I still cannot believe I have been writing here for 5 years on ZDNet.

Memorable articles

I have had the opportunity to play with lots of mobile devices, applications, and services over the years and it looks like I wrote something on the order of 1,500 blog posts in the last 5 years. A few articles that stand out in my memory include:

• iPad Office apps showdown: Easily my most viewed article that still accounts for a majority of my monthly page views on this blog today.
• Evernote is the software I have been writing about the longest and is still one of my favorite apps, with some major evolutions over the last five years.
• I joined the MobileTechRoundup podcast at show #54 in 2006 and last recorded show #244 in late July.
• I stood in line for my first iPhone like thousands of other enthusiasts.
• The HTC Advantage was quite a powerful mobile device back in 2007
• I posted some initial thoughts on my first generation iPad after thinking I would skip the device
• I enjoyed my for the iPad 2early this year
• End of year articles for:
  • 2006
  • 2007
  • 2008
  • 2009
  • 2010

We have seen an amazing change in smartphones from the Treo to the iPhone, in tablets from early expensive UMPC devices to the iPad, and an adoption of social networking services that seems to connect us more with each other. Nokia went from the clear leader in the smartphone space to a falling star that can't seem to stop its downward motion. Mobile is a very exciting place to be and when I pitched ZDNet a proposal for this mobile focused blog back in 2006 I had no idea it would turn into such a popular site. We now have several blogs talking about mobile on ZDNet and even those who don't focus on mobile are talking about how mobile ties in with their focus.

I branched off and launched a phone only blog in late 2008 when ZDNet editors realized there was a need as the smartphone market took off too and am now having a blast writing both blogs here on ZDNet.

Thanks to the readers

While there are always trolls who like to stir things up in the comments, I have a ton of loyal readers who engage via email, via social networks, and via the comments who I greatly appreciate and like to hear from. You have given me encouragement over the years and when I get emails thanking me for my work I find renewed passion for writing and trying to provide content you enjoy.

I am always open to ideas for topics you want me to cover so feel free to reach out to me using the contact forms here on ZDNet or on Twitter. Thanks for visiting and sharing in my ZDNet experience the last five years.

Thanks to ZDNet and CBS Interactive

I saw there wasn't a ZDNet blog covering the mobile space back in 2006 and thank David Grober for giving me the chance to run this blog as a pilot for three months back in 2006. I am not sure either of us knew how popular covering the mobile space would become, but I thank David for giving me the chance to express my opinions and share my experiences with the ZDNet audience.

I have worked with some great editors, ZDNet/CBSi employees, and fellow tech bloggers over the years and hope to continue doing so for many years to come.

Do you have a favorite post from the last 5 years here on ZDNet Mobile Gadgeteer?