Famed Leaker @evleaks (Evan Blass) Announces Retirement from the Leaking Game

[dgstorm]

It's a sad day for mobile tech news. The famous leaker @evleaks, whose real name is Evan Blass, has officially announced his retirement. His reasons are something that most of us can relate to: he needs to replace his "leaking gig" with a full-time job that can actually generate enough income to support himself and his family.

Between the everyday costs of raising a family and dealing with the difficulties of his multiple sclerosis illness, he simply wasn't able to make ends meet. This was even after he started his own website for the leaks. It's easy to understand where he is coming from, and although we are all saddened by his decision, we wish him luck and want to sincerely thank him for being the most prolific source of solid intel the mobile industry has ever seen.

He explained his announcement during an interview with TheNextWeb. You can see the entirety of his email interview quoted in the thread below.

 

[dgstorm]

Here's the interview with Evan Blass,

TNW: So Evan, your decision to retire from leaking has surprised a lot of people. Can you explain the reasons behind it?

Evan Blass: These matters are always somewhat complicated, but like many things, it mostly comes down to money. Trying to monetize a stream of Twitter leaks is not easy. First I tried monthly sponsorships. Then weekly. Then single sponsored tweets. I took donations — felt like online panhandling.

I also started a website, and it’s actually done somewhat respectably, but with all the leaks going out on Twitter anyway, people have little incentive to visit, and most of my tech-savvy-heavy audience seem to be pretty heavy ad-block users, as well. It all adds up to an unsustainable living, and with a progressively worsening disease [Ed; Blass was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis], I need to make sure I can prepare myself better for the future, financially.

TNW: Is there a chance that you might reverse this decision and return to leaking again in the future?

EB: Almost certainly not. This is not a pack-your-bags-and-move-down-to-Florida retirement. I plan to start another career now, for reasons stated above. Hopefully one with some matching 401k action.

TNW: Looking back, what’s been your favorite leak or proudest moment, and why?

EB: My favorite leak was the HTC M8 Prime, even though the phone is dead now. I think the 3D rotating render is just beautiful, hypnotizing.

As for my proudest moment, it’s probably being named one of Wired’s 101 Signals last year — a list of “the best reporters, writers, and thinkers on the Internet.”

TNW: How difficult was it to come out andreveal your real-life identity last year?

EB: Pretty difficult, initially — I haven’t been that emotional about something in a long time, or since, actually — but thanks to an offer by Android Police to do an interview about it, I think it went over pretty smoothly.

And I think that my history in the industry (at Engadget and Pocketnow) may have even added a bit to my credibility. So kudos, in the the long run, to those who wanted me outed.

TNW: Have companies affected by your leaks ever reacted to them and you directly?

EB: Numerous times, but maybe not as many as some people might suspect. Several of them have been quite public and somewhat publicized, to the point that they probably need not bear repeating here.

TNW: Can you explain how it is that you managed to leak so many products and details with such a high rate of eventual success?

EB: Good sources, good colleagues to bounce ideas off of, and good luck.

TNW: Are there any lesser-known leakers out there with the potential to step into your shoes?

EB: Someone who is immediately springs to mind is TK O’Connor, of TK Tech News. The man is a beast when it comes to leaking — and body checks — but he’s also the nicest guy you’ll ever meet.

TNW: Now that you are out of the phone leaking game, what do you see yourself doing next?

EB: Hopefully, starting to enjoy the phones again. They always tell you to try to make a job out of your hobby — a jobby, if you will. But what they don’t tell you is that, sometimes, the job sucks the fun right out of the hobby after a while. I’d really like to recapture some of the wonder I first felt when smartphones were these amazing new gadgets, pocket computers that could communicate via voice, text, and data in completely configurable and totally unimaginable ways.

TNW: Will you still be tweeting and blogging, or is this goodbye altogether?

EB: The future of the website is an unknown at this point. I’ll keep the Twitter handle as a personal feed for those who are still interested.

 

[Gremlin]

Good luck to him and hope he finds himself financially better.. he deserves it..

 

[Jeffrey]

He will be a loss...but family first.