It's a sad day for all those involved with one of the world's best software blogs;
Download Squad is no more. I say this because AOL has decided that DLS, and its parent site
Switched, which it was
rolled into just before the end of 2010, were marked for folding into the new Huffington Post Media Group. What that meant in actuality, was termination. We had our suspicions at the time, and true enough early last week we got the call we were all dreading. Our fearless leader, Mr. Thomas Houston, had bad news for us.
But it wasn't until late last night, at least late in Britain, that we got the now very familiar copy-and-paste email. I won't bore you with the details, but sufficed to say, is was basically a 'Thanks for what you've done, but you're surplus to requirement.' Boom, just like that.
Personally, I have to say I think AOL/HuffPo are making a mistake. Software, gone from the days of actually having to get things on CDs, or even diskettes, is ever more important. What's the difference between a good Android experience and a crappy, budget, old one? It's the software, and I'm not just talking about apps. It's the software OS that powers the machine, that you interact with, that can either thrill you, or ruin your experience. But then what about the apps? Mobile OS launches seem to live or die by the amount of apps you have and the developers you can get on-board.
It's not just mobile either, take a look at cloud computing. You might think Web apps aren't really software, but you'd be wrong. Just because you're not running them on your computer in the traditional sense, doesn't mean they aren't important, aren't software, and aren't worth covering.
There has never been a more important time for the software sector of tech, and with the loss of Download Squad, we've lost a place squarely positioned at the forefront of the software revolution (and yes I know I'm biased).
So it is with a heavy heart that I am forced to hang up my News Editor's hat, type in my password for the last time, and bid thee farewell. To the good ship DLS, may she sail on in our memories.
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