Some big news happened recently, and because of the big news I got busy and forgot about announcing the big news. If that doesn’t sound like typical me, I don’t know what would.
As of March, I’m now a full-time employee! I’m a senior writer at CNET covering mobile topics such as devices and carriers. I started freelancing for the How-To group at CNET in the middle of last year, and then in early 2025 the good folks in the Mobile group approached me about coming on full time.
If you know me, or have followed me, you’ll know that this is a momentous development. This is the first full-time job I’ve had in… 30 years! I’ve been part of several long-term contract projects during that time, but never employment that carries with it such novel concepts as a “salary” and “benefits.” I’m still in Seattle, working from my home office.
As you can imagine, I’m not taking on any new freelance projects. However, some existing gigs will continue: I’m still co-hosting the PhotoActive podcast with Kirk McElhearn, and updating my Take Control ebooks (like the recently released Take Control of iPhone Photography). My Lightroom classes — based on my book Lightroom Course & Compendium published by Rocky Nook — at Kenmore Camera are still running, too (the next one is July 12!). And I continue to do occasional event and portrait photography.
Transitioning to a full-time job has been quite the adventure, and I’m sure it’s been amusing for other working folks to see me react wide-eyed to things like money arriving in my bank account on a consistent schedule. Amazing.
Jeff Carlson | Never Enough Coffee Creations 