John Gruber and Dan Benjamin were in my opinion, like chalk and cheese. But both are emormously good at what they do; John for his opinions, Dan for his expert knowledge of hosting a radio show.

So, todays news that the pair were to ‘break up’, so to speak and venture off into the wilderness on their own – not only came as a shock, but saddened me. They were the darlings of Apple-based podcast rumours.

I do though, have my own opinions regarding their relationship. I do not know them personally, I can only offer what I have been assuming for a long while. The two of them are very strong individuals, both with their own (sometimes stubborn) characteristics, but that was what made them both so appealing to listen to.

I used to roll my eyes playfully when Dan would describe something in great detail and in response, John would just answer: ‘I dunno’. But it made me laugh, they were like a comedy duo in that regard. But John’s style of radio delivery got better with practise as he started to go into more depth and not let Dan carry the entire show. I love it when John got more playful and whimsical in his responses, often even to the point of mockery (Fussy coffee, soda stream and clicky keyboard). It was arrogant, but those were the best moments. You love to hate the guy, but you never really hate him and you find yourself rooting for him in the end.

I think this is a personal matter for the both of them. Perhaps John wasn’t happy with the release of the 5by5 app which perhaps he felt he should have been getting royalties for, but wasn’t. I don’t know. Im guessing. Perhaps Dan’s inclusion of the new ‘Amplified’ show hosted by Dan and Jim stood on too many toes for John and found Amplified was just summarising their show, making it irrelevant?

Maybe Apple interjected and wanted John to distance himself from Dan due to Dan’s constant questioning about Apple sending John pre-release hardware / software?

Its all speculation at this time.

Personally, I am going to miss Dan and John riffing about nothing for ages and geeking-out about design and ethics and morality. I continue to support them both (now, sadly individually). I’ll still download the 5by5 podcasts that I love and I will still wear my Daringfireball T-shirt with pride. I support them both separately in their endeavours and wish them luck.

This is the end of one chapter and the start of a new. Let’s all move on with our lives.