Engadget's top posts, 2008

Well, the year has come and gone, and with it, our 365 -- or in this case, 366 -- days of posting. We've seen some pretty amazing stuff, gotten to play with a stack of awesome gear, and watched the site grow by leaps and bounds (we just had our biggest day ever in October). We thought we'd cap the year off with a look back at the posts that got the most heat. One thing that's clear? People really love (or hate) Apple. Check out the top 20 of the year below, and be sure to truck over to Engadget Mobile and Engadget HD for their year-end round-ups!

Top 20 most trafficked posts of 2008 (in order)

1. Steve Jobs keynote live from WWDC 2008
2. Live from Apple's "spotlight turns to notebooks" event
3. Live from Apple's 'Let's Rock' event in San Francisco
4. Live from Macworld 2008: Steve Jobs keynote
5. Live from Apple's iPhone SDK press conference
6. iPhone 3G is finally official, starts at $199, available July 11th
7. The second-gen iPhone: 3G, GPS, only slightly thicker
8. iPhone 3G review
9. BlackBerry Storm review
10. Meet the T-Mobile G1
11. Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X1 QWERTY with Windows Mobile and HSUPA
12. Woman files $54m lawsuit against Best Buy for losing laptop
13. The HTC Touch Pro
14. MacBook Air review
15. Dell E and E Slim revealed, taking on Eee and Air in one fell swoop
16. Worst parents in the world punk kid into thinking he got an Xbox 360
17. T-Mobile G1 review
18. T-Mobile G1 first hands-on (updated)
19. iPhone firmware 2.0 hands-on
20. The Simpsons mocks (m)Apple

Top 20 most trafficked posts during 2008 (in order; non-2008 posts in bold)

1. Steve Jobs keynote live from WWDC 2008
2. Live from Apple's "spotlight turns to notebooks" event
3. Live from Apple's 'Let's Rock' event in San Francisco
4. Live from Macworld 2008: Steve Jobs keynote
5. Live from Apple's iPhone SDK press conference
6. iPhone 3G is finally official, starts at $199, available July 11th
7. The second-gen iPhone: 3G, GPS, only slightly thicker
8. HOW-TO: Get music OFF your iPod
9. iPhone 3G review
10. BlackBerry Storm review
11. Meet the T-Mobile G1
12. Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X1 QWERTY with Windows Mobile and HSUPA
13. Turn your PC into a Mac
14. HOW-TO: Get videos and DVDs onto your Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) for free
15. Woman files $54m lawsuit against Best Buy for losing laptop
16. The HTC Touch Pro
17. iPhone unlocked: AT&T loses iPhone exclusivity, August 24, 2007, 12:00PM EDT
18. MacBook Air review
19. Dell E and E Slim revealed, taking on Eee and Air in one fell swoop
20. Blu-ray vs HD DVD: State of the Division

Top 15 most trafficked posts of the year, sans Apple-only posts (in order)

1. BlackBerry Storm review
2. Meet the T-Mobile G1
3. Sony Ericsson's XPERIA X1 QWERTY with Windows Mobile and HSUPA
4. Woman files $54m lawsuit against Best Buy for losing laptop
5. The HTC Touch Pro
6. Dell E and E Slim revealed, taking on Eee and Air in one fell swoop
7. Worst parents in the world punk kid into thinking he got an Xbox 360
8. T-Mobile G1 review
9. T-Mobile G1 first hands-on (updated)
10. Little old lady suing Sony, Samsung, Nokia and everyone else for infringing on her laser patents
11. Sony gets official with PSP-3000
12. The PS3 Laptop: from Ben Heck to Engadget with love
13. Holiday Gift Guide: $1001+
14. Best Buy offers HD DVD owners $10 million in gift cards, trade in, shoulder to cry on
15. HP's UMPC 2133 revealed

A few other interesting numbers for you:

Total posts on Engadget in 2008: 11,878
Total number of comments: 697,672 (and counting)
Average comments per post: 58.7

Combined Engadget classic, HD, and Mobile stats:

Posts: 21,880
Comments: 853,044
Average comments per post: 39.0

[Papytendo @ Jan 1st 2009 12:03AM]

I wonder who had the most high ranked comments.

Maybe it was me!

*Cries in doubt*

[cholly @ Jan 1st 2009 12:10AM]

Perhaps clak ? LoL

[LiQuiD_FuSioN @ Jan 1st 2009 12:11AM]

Actually, that'd be very interesting to see.

Next time, Engadget should do that. I bet that would really spark users to post smart and witty-like comments instead of the usual "OMG First!" nonsense.

[Max @ Jan 1st 2009 12:29AM]

yeah that's EXACTLY what engadget needs to keep the comments moderated

[BobFromVegas @ Jan 1st 2009 12:54AM]

I'd like to see top memes used on Engadget in 2008 with the hopes that all the trolls out there will have a new years resolution to stop.

Which would never happen, but hey-the idea isn't as FUGLY as it sounds, and 'i' think it will blend too.

~Professional Idiot
Fusion Fuzo

[gonintendo @ Jan 1st 2009 1:11AM]

But will it run crysis?

[SOOPERGOOMAN @ Jan 1st 2009 2:56AM]

NO! I AM THE TOP POSTEr OF 2008 me not you me! I know I have kept track and I am THE TOP POSTER OF 2008 and dont forget that ebery day every hour i am here o am the top, ask ryan block

[deyanimay @ Jan 1st 2009 6:25AM]

@SOOPERGOOMAN

I just went through you post history and low ranked every single comment you made. Feel free to cry. jk =)

[Poom @ Jan 1st 2009 10:30AM]

We should also have the lowest ranked overall! That's obviously iEye though. =P

[Xenoterranos @ Jan 1st 2009 1:37PM]

No really, they shouldn't start counting post popularity. It ruined Daily Tech, and it'll ruin Engadget as well! Heed these words! HEED THEM!

[reader @ Jan 1st 2009 12:04AM]

Oh dear, there seems to be quite a number of Apple related top posts...

[??? @ Jan 1st 2009 12:08AM]

Captain Obvious strikes again!
ZOUNDS!

[fhyageu @ Jan 1st 2009 1:15AM]

and yet, people wonder why engadget covers apple as much as they do...

[GenoMalice @ Jan 1st 2009 1:16AM]

Top 9 most viewed posts in 2008 and to 8 most viewed 2008 stories?
....Apple can now do commercials on Mac vs. Everything instead of just PC... THEY SWEPT THE COMPETITION AWAY THIS YEAR!

P.S. I am not a Fanboy!!

[Kit @ Jan 1st 2009 2:00AM]

We can't help the Engadget never live blog any Microsoft major keynote, Mix08, PDC....

Does make sense since Microsoft is not much to a consumer company.

[Craig B. @ Jan 1st 2009 2:23AM]

While we're at it, let's see application of a formula discounting the portion of the traffic due to people checking out the articles to post responses on why the Apple articles shouldn't be there in the first place (or attacking fanboys)!

Happy New Year all of those in front of me up to that place in the world somewhere by Australia where it switches back until yesterday.

[Californian @ Jan 1st 2009 3:13AM]

HATE!!! I hate apple, which is why I try to find any flaw and therefore read up on them.

[Jarhead2012 @ Jan 1st 2009 10:00AM]

I KNEW IT!

It's the users that did it! Maybe if we stop going to Apple posts to comment on how annoying it is that Apple posts make up most of the Engadget article population, these numbers wouldn't be so high, and therefore Engadget wouldn't report on Apple matters as much. It's a shot in the dark, but it seems possible, no?

[1234321 @ Jan 1st 2009 12:06AM]

Apple took quite a beating on the top 20 compared to last year

[cholly @ Jan 1st 2009 12:07AM]

Wow, look at the apple posts.

[Dave Chappelle @ Jan 1st 2009 12:45AM]

thats what happens when Engadget travels to every damn Apple event their is and also hypes all of their products for a complete month.... how many posts did engadget have for the Macbook Air? well how about its new competitor Dell Adamo?? im pretty sure its about 20 (Air) v 2 (Adamo)

[Decoy @ Jan 1st 2009 1:13AM]

Let's face it, Apple is a media savvy company and knows how to get a lot of attention. Guess what aspect of this data we're all talking about here.

[nerdtalker @ Jan 1st 2009 1:41AM]

Aww, I forgive Engadget for once, even though most of the top visited posts are all apple-related. It's time for a New Year! Happy New Year!!!!

[loosely_coupled @ Jan 1st 2009 2:46AM]

@Dave Chapelle

You are kidding right? The Dell "Adamo" or whatever is only a freaking name at this point... We haven't seen any pictures, specs, or anything yet...

[Taylor @ Jan 1st 2009 2:49AM]

Once again, every single person who goes to Apple posts to make a comment saying "TOO MANY APPLE POSTS" are only making them more popular, which will lead Engadget to post more Apple content, ad nauseum

[ilh @ Jan 1st 2009 10:39AM]

But you're forgetting the Apple bias that Engadget show even in posts that aren't about Apple products so who's to say Engadget wouldn't still do more Apple posts even if nobody looks at them?

[bondsbw @ Jan 1st 2009 11:50AM]

That's funny, since I remember Engadget covering several other companies' products and launches. But the fact is, almost no company launched anything of value for the average consumer this year.

Look at these: Microsoft's best consumer products of '08 were Office 2008 for Mac and the new XBox 360 UI. They also had some leaks and official info about Windows 7, and let loose some service packs, Server 2008, and good dev products. I don't even remember anything Sony launched... maybe some TVs or something. There was info about a few good phones like the Storm, G1, the HTC Touch Pro/Diamond, and maybe some cool peripherals and research ideas here and there.

Every one of the consumer products I mentioned got plenty of time on Engadget. If companies want Engadget or any other major consumer tech outlet to cover their products, they'll need to make products worth the light coming off my screen. A few did, most didn't.

It's 2009, and I'm tired of people whining about unfair Apple this and that. Apple has PLENTY of competition in every market they play in. The only one in which they own more than 50% of the market is the PMP, and it's they're still forced to innovate to stay viable. (There is NO market that Apple dominates in which consumers have little choice... unlike some companies, namely Microsoft. I MUST use Windows at work. And almost everyone MUST use Windows in some part of their lives.)

So we'll clean slate this thing and see if any company has the groin to innovate against Apple in 2009. I completely welcome products that don't suck.

[Sisyphus @ Jan 1st 2009 12:07AM]

Happy New Year, Engadget.

[dcoaster @ Jan 1st 2009 12:09AM]

HAPPY NEW YEAR! At least for us on the East Coast so far. My best wishes to everyone here and out west as well!

[BobTurbo @ Jan 1st 2009 12:10AM]

Bill Gates is reading this now thinking "Steve Jobs!!!! Steve Jobs!!! Why does he get all the attention!?!?!? I invented the goddam PC!"

[Snitch @ Jan 1st 2009 12:43AM]

LMAO dude Dude shut the hell up lol

[El Taco @ Jan 1st 2009 1:11AM]

And to think we wonder why Engadget posts about Apple so much...

[musback @ Jan 1st 2009 10:43AM]

But then he figures, "oh yea, that's right, I own almost half of apple in stocks too..." So everybody wins.... Especially Bill Gates.

[B3astofthe3ast @ Jan 1st 2009 12:12AM]

I see I'm not the only loser on engadget in 2009s first moments.

[Dahk @ Jan 1st 2009 12:59AM]

Heh, and I'm not the only one with Solid Snake on his avatar.

Happy '09 folks!

[Consequence_9 @ Jan 1st 2009 12:12AM]

Fux all dis mac sheeit...

Happy New Year!

ITS A SEA OF HUMANITY!!

[BobTurbo @ Jan 1st 2009 12:16AM]

Tips for getting high-ranked in 2008:

Say good things about Microsoft as they are the current underdog (taken over from Linux) and people who use anything else are the mindless zombies, a slave to big corporation (used to be free versus paid, is now paid versus paid even more).

Never say anything good about Apple unless the article says something bad about Apple in which case you can go either way.

Don't mention anything about playing Crisis.

Say good things about Samsung and Canon.

[CJ @ Jan 1st 2009 1:07AM]

You forgot:

Be BobTurbo; shut up.

[El Taco @ Jan 1st 2009 1:13AM]

You forgot:

Yes, it can probably blend. You don't need to ask.

Can it run Crysis? Pillows: no. Computers: yes. No need to ask.

And if you think you're first, you're probably not.

[DBrim @ Jan 1st 2009 6:51AM]

Add something to the discussion.

Now that isn't all that hard to outline, now, is it?

[milfred @ Jan 1st 2009 12:25AM]

lol the sheer number of apple related posts that made it onto that list is astounding.

[XGM @ Jan 1st 2009 12:25AM]

Surprised nobody claimed the first "FIRST !!!" post of 2009.


FIRST !!!

[cholly @ Jan 1st 2009 12:29AM]

OMG Epic Failure on your part ! You're not even close to first ! haha

[LiQuiD_FuSioN @ Jan 1st 2009 12:29AM]

Surprised anyone is even surfing on Engadget tonight..

..well, this *is* a tech blog I guess. Nevermind. :P~

[Maxwell @ Jan 1st 2009 12:29AM]

Here on the West Coast of the U.S., it's still 2008...

[XGM @ Jan 1st 2009 12:39AM]

Yea cholly that was a epic failure on your part. This was meant to be a joke, so next time don't skip school because those reading comprehension lessons help.

[cholly @ Jan 1st 2009 1:20AM]

I never skipped my classes, but seeing how seriously you react to comments on the internet leads me to believe that your mom must have skipped classes when she had you

[Gautam @ Jan 1st 2009 1:54AM]

guys its all gonna be ok. dont worry bout a thing. ITS NEW YEARS!!!!! 2009!

[OhmG @ Jan 1st 2009 12:29AM]

as an apple employee, it's heart warming to see so many of those apple posts, and the existence of the "sans-apple" category :)

[Game_playa @ Jan 1st 2009 1:03AM]

Tool.