

Updated RailsCasts Status - markprovan
http://railscasts.com/announcements/12

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cpursley
I think this speaks of a larger trend with the Rails platform. What I mean is
that it's now a mature platform and Railscasts have covered a lot of ground.
My guess is part of the burnout Ryan is experiencing is due to a dwindling
amount of material to cover without venturing outside of the platform, which
he has been doing (and is welcome).

While I love Rails and Ruby (and learned a ton from Railscasts), the future of
the web is building a separate RESTful API + separate static JavaScript
browser app + any other devices like mobile, Glass, etc (opposed to nesting
client-side JS apps under assets).

Edit: In response to the downvotes, let me clarify: I think Ryan is running
out of topics in the context of Rails. He's a great teacher and I'm a paid pro
subscriber.

~~~
CoachRufus87
How did you infer that from "I don't want to return until I am fully ready to
avoid getting burnt out."?

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Dorsai
I feel like I owe such a huge debt to Ryan and don't even want him to feel the
pressure of 'coming back'... as he already gave so much. Burnout is a serious
issue for those that make a living behind a keyboard.

That being said - how would you reenergize in his shoes?

He's been chasing the edge of Rails development for so long - is that where
the subscribers come from?

It seems like he gets OVER THE TOP response every time he does a more 'newbie'
Railscast - so maybe here are some options to maybe reenergize and keep the
subscriber base - what would you like to see?

\- More Rails newbie stuff \- Exactly like before, after a break \- More
Multi-session 'building a complete app' \- Guest speaker sessions \- Evolve to
more of a 'how to tackle programmer challenges' \- Evolve to more of a
'building web apps' vs. 'only Rails' (ember, meteor, Go)

What else?

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veidr
Railscasts was really useful when I was learning Rails, so there's no
begrudging Ryan.

But still, part of me has to wonder, how much of this is TextMate Syndrome[1]?
By which I mean, how much did Railscasts end up earning?

I was signed up for about a year -- $108. Ignoring those who would pay their
personal money, and just considering those who could expense it (a whopping $9
per month!), I have always just _assumed_ (but don't know) than many thousands
of others must have subscribed.

Making hundreds of thousands of dollars more than you expected does really
make it harder to keep working on some nerd shit, instead of... not doing
that.

[1]: [http://blog.macromates.com/2006/year-in-
review/](http://blog.macromates.com/2006/year-in-review/)

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nicholassmith
This is the best way to handle it, just a quick note saying "Sorry, maybe
soon!" rather than out and out abandoning ship. Kudos to him, I hope he finds
his desire for it again, he makes some excellent resources.

~~~
adamzerner
Yea, it's nice of him to be specific and tell us the _reason_ he's taking time
off is to improve his morale, which will in turn improve the content. That's
some real mature thinking.

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davesims
Nicely handled. Good for you, take your time Ryan. You've given so much
quality free content over the years, the least the Rails community can do is
hang back and let you figure this out on your own good time.

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obilgic
I would pay 90$/mo, if he makes golang screencasts. He has covered almost
everything you would need to know about ruby on rails. It is time to explore
new worlds.

~~~
sanderjd
It's likely he doesn't have the expertise to do that. An interesting idea
could be to use the notoriety and format of something like Railscasts to
"franchise" similar resources about different technologies.

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glanotte
I wish there were a way to opt-out of the extension. I am a subscriber and
plan to continue to be a subscriber as long as I can afford the $9/mo.

Ryan's resources were invaluable to me when I made the transition to rails.
While I would be sad if Ryan decided to not come back, I would happily
continue to pay. It truly is the least I can do.

Thank you for everything, Ryan. Come back soon!

~~~
darkstar999
> New subscribers will be charged the initial $9 and then extended as well.

Spin up another account then cancel it!

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tzaman
I'm sad to see this happen as Ryan not only produces great screencasts but
shows the trends and popular gems along the way. I respect his decision,
though - I know what burnout feels like and it's the biggest mental burden one
can have. Good luck, Ryan!

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juzfoo
Take your time Ryan! Not sure what exactly that you are going/went through.
But your style and topics you covered were/are still unparalleled and sorely
missed in the Rails world.

Ryan, if you are reading these: You have been doing Rails stuff for quite a
while now. If you think, its getting repetitive and not challenging enough, it
might not be a bad idea to diversify the screen casts away from Rails. Node,
golang or anything that ignites the keen learner in you. I am sure you will do
a great job making those technologies accessible to the uninitiated. Of course
Ryan knows best :)

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lewisflude
I'm happy about how open Ryan has been about this whole thing. We all suffer
from burnout from time to time.

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1123581321
I hope he recovers completely and soon regardless of whether he continues
Railscasts. And, I appreciate that he extends subscriptions and I know many
people need that, but I almost wish he wouldn't as I subscribe more to thank
him and look up revised episodes than to get the new content.

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pzaich
As a developer who has only been using RoR for about a year and a half,
Railscasts are an incredible resource. Ryan saves you hours of research that
you'd have to do yourself. In fact, I'd still happily pay the subscription
right now even without new content.

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robotcookies
I think he's a great at explaining stuff and a terrific teacher. Maybe his
next venture should be an online school teaching general computer science or
more languages/frameworks. Hopefully his burnout is with Rails alone and not
teaching in general.

~~~
house9-2
He is doing a workshop (southern oregon / not online) next month - as part of
the "Rogue Rails Workshop & Conference" \- see
[http://www.roguerails.com/](http://www.roguerails.com/) \- maybe this is the
direction he will head in going forward?

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jbverschoor
Recovering from a burn out myself too. Took it easy for a couple of months,
went on some holidays, and now helping a startup out at the lisbon challenge.

Good luck ryan!

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joshdance
Take your time Ryan. We will wait patiently.

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stewartjarod
I'm surprised no one else has really stepped into his space and made much
impact.

