Chatting with a friend yesterday when the subject of the SolderSmoke podcast came up. It seems there is some possibility of that long-running program going QRT. While I enjoy it, it isn’t published on any sort of regular basis so I’m usually always behind a few episodes, only checking for a new one when something reminds me of it. Following up on the blog, I see where Bill has mentioned a large drop-off in listeners and blog traffic and he wonders if maybe it’s time has come and gone.

Our blogs and the podcast are in danger! Pete is already on a permanent blog hiatus. I have seen a big decline in readership. Frankly, if no one is reading or listening, we just may decide not to do it anymore. We don’t want to do this. So please, link to the blogs. Talk up the blog and podcast on your own blogs and social media. […]

I frequently think the same thing about writing here. Having toiled away at this for more than two decades, I’ve found a solid, yet slowly declining audience that makes me wonder if my site stats aren’t a direct reflection of the aging slug of ham radio enthusiasts born in the 1950’s slowly winding our way to senior citizenship. It stands to reason, I write about what tickles my fancy and I seem to have become more ticklish to older things. That readers of a similar age would share similar interests seems logical and it’s inevitable the number of those readers would decline over time.

Is it surprising, in the case of SolderSmoke, that an audience of hams still interested in (mostly) analog radio design and development might be in decline simply due to aging out? N2CQR and I are the same age and we enjoyed radio as kids during a bygone era. Can a ham radio blog or a podcast produced by a 65 year-old man still attract a growing audience? Probably not, but you never know. If Bill requires some minimum threshold of listeners and readers to keep SolderSmoke going then there could be real cause for concern from fans of that program.

As for me, I have developed my own exit strategy, I hope to not be maintaining this blog right up to them closing my casket. I retired from working in 2022 and in the same way I plan to retire from blogging, that date just hasn’t yet been chiseled into the headstone. After all, Doc Searls is still going strong at 77. Still, a pop-up health issue or serious family matter seems to perpetually lurk outside the door of those living in their golden years. You never know. I guess that keeps life interesting?