I describe The 404 as a podcast hosted by the folks at CNET that focused on consumer electronics and technology and various aspect of the internet. The show’s namesake was derived from the infamous ‘404 Page Not Found’ error that appeared when trying to reach a website that doesn’t exist during that moment in time. The 404 ran from 2007 through 2017, though I only began listening somewhere around 2010ish. When I began listening, the crew consisted of Jeff Bakalar and Justin Yu, with Ariel ___, delivering the show’s intro and production. I would later learn that other co-hosts had previously been a part of the show, but left prior to when I began listening.
In 2010, the intro music reminded me of a cheesy West Coast R&B or rap beat from the 90s, but it was endearing. Toward the end of the show’s run, the intro music changed to a more video-game soundtrack quality, which was fine as well. The show was hosted out of some CNET studio in New York, presumably with the show’s cast residing somewhere within NY/NJ metro area. My impression was that Bakalar and Yu were born sometime in the early/mid 80s, which made the show’s content and context very relatable to me personally (being of the same age group) since they were going through the same type of life events that I was going through at the time: career ramp up, engagements/marriages, kids, and general adventure of folks of that age. Bakalar and Yu meshed well together. They kept it light, and had dry senses of humor that I can appreciate. Common themes throughout the show’s run were consumer tech (iphones, social media) and pop culture, and their personalities weren’t overbearing. I’m not sure if there was always a video component to the podcast, but CNET posted the video episodes of The 404. I recall watching a few shows on my TV through some itunes-to-Roku app, though I typically only listened to the audio version.
The 404 would feature regular rotational guests, like a lady named Jill Schleshinger(?) for financial topics and Steve Gutenberg (not the actor) for audio equipment snobbery. Shows with guests weren’t my favorite of the lot, but they were fine nevertheless. Sometime around 2015ish, there was a ‘special announcement’ show where Justin Yu announced that he was leaving the show to focus on other things (camera reviews on CNET, I recall?). This certainly saddened me, but Jeff Bakalar reassured that the show would go on, which was a nice consolation. However, I understood that you cannot remove half of a radio show crew and expect it to be the same show.
To replace Yu, they threw in some guy who had a young son that he mentioned often. Bad move for the show in my opinion. I recall his personality as too serious for my liking, with no humor to add to the conversation. I wasn’t convinced that Jeff and the replacement even knew each other, let alone liked each other. Not sure how long it took, but eventually the 404 moved on from that guy (thankfully). Enter Russ Frushtick. I think he had appeared on the show as a guest prior. Tolerable personality if not just too benign. Upgrade from the last replacement, since Bakalar and Frushtick had a prior working relationship and come off as genuine friends. The show show signs of life and restored some of its past luster. Finally, in 2017, the last of 1500+ episodes was recorded. Ten years is an incredible run by any radio or podcast standard. After so many years of enjoying the show and witnessing live of the show’s hosts through the stories share, I was sad to see the show end. Artifacts of the show are still scattered across the internet. Jeff Bakalar does a video game podcast. Not sure about the whereabout of anyone else. Cheers to a show and a great run, and I‘m thankful for all the entertainment.