My New Adventure
As I've often said, I'm one lucky guy. In my position as editor in chief of PC World, I have one of the best jobs in technology journalism. I get to do work I thoroughly enjoy, and to be part of a remarkable team who serves an equally remarkable universe of online and print readers.
Context & Ripple Effects
This departure closes a turbulent chapter at PC World. In May 2007 the same editor resigned abruptly in a dispute with management, then returned within days after the company reversed course and removed the CEO — an unusual public victory for editorial independence chronicled in the CEO's removal and his return to the masthead. A year later, he is leaving on his own terms, making this less a firing than a planned exit from one of tech journalism's most visible editing jobs.
First-order effects
- PC World must replace its editor in chief for the second time in roughly a year, immediately after the stability restored by his 2007 return.
- The publication loses the public face of its editorial brand — the person readers associated with the outlet's independence during the CEO standoff.
Second-order effects
- Rival consumer-tech titles navigating their own leadership handoffs, such as the transition covered in Passing the Torch, face intensified competition for a thin pool of experienced top editors.
- Advertisers and readers will watch whether PC World's editorial direction shifts under new leadership, given how visibly the last change was contested.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, veteran print-era editors increasingly treat masthead jobs as chapters rather than careers, exiting toward independent or self-launched ventures — a path foreshadowed by stories like hobby bloggers turning their work into careers.
- Tech publishing may keep institutionalizing the lesson of the 2007 episode: editorial independence becomes a retention issue, not just a values statement.
The trend: Top editors at legacy tech publications are stepping away from established mastheads toward independent ventures as authority in tech media migrates from brands to individual voices.