I think this speaks of a larger trend with the Rails platform. What I mean is that it's now a mature platform and Railscasts have covered a lot of ground. My guess is part of the burnout Ryan is experiencing is due to a dwindling amount of material to cover without venturing outside of the platform, which he has been doing (and is welcome).

While I love Rails and Ruby (and learned a ton from Railscasts), the future of the web is building a separate RESTful API + separate static JavaScript browser app + any other devices like mobile, Glass, etc (opposed to nesting client-side JS apps under assets).

Edit: In response to the downvotes, let me clarify: I think Ryan is running out of topics in the context of Rails. He's a great teacher and I'm a paid pro subscriber.

I feel like I owe such a huge debt to Ryan and don't even want him to feel the pressure of 'coming back'... as he already gave so much. Burnout is a serious issue for those that make a living behind a keyboard.

That being said - how would you reenergize in his shoes?

He's been chasing the edge of Rails development for so long - is that where the subscribers come from?

It seems like he gets OVER THE TOP response every time he does a more 'newbie' Railscast - so maybe here are some options to maybe reenergize and keep the subscriber base - what would you like to see?

- More Rails newbie stuff - Exactly like before, after a break - More Multi-session 'building a complete app' - Guest speaker sessions - Evolve to more of a 'how to tackle programmer challenges' - Evolve to more of a 'building web apps' vs. 'only Rails' (ember, meteor, Go)

What else?

Railscasts was really useful when I was learning Rails, so there's no begrudging Ryan.

But still, part of me has to wonder, how much of this is TextMate Syndrome[1]? By which I mean, how much did Railscasts end up earning?

I was signed up for about a year -- $108. Ignoring those who would pay their personal money, and just considering those who could expense it (a whopping $9 per month!), I have always just assumed (but don't know) than many thousands of others must have subscribed.

Making hundreds of thousands of dollars more than you expected does really make it harder to keep working on some nerd shit, instead of... not doing that.

[1]: http://blog.macromates.com/2006/year-in-review/

This is the best way to handle it, just a quick note saying "Sorry, maybe soon!" rather than out and out abandoning ship. Kudos to him, I hope he finds his desire for it again, he makes some excellent resources.

Nicely handled. Good for you, take your time Ryan. You've given so much quality free content over the years, the least the Rails community can do is hang back and let you figure this out on your own good time.

I would pay 90$/mo, if he makes golang screencasts. He has covered almost everything you would need to know about ruby on rails. It is time to explore new worlds.

I wish there were a way to opt-out of the extension. I am a subscriber and plan to continue to be a subscriber as long as I can afford the $9/mo.

Ryan's resources were invaluable to me when I made the transition to rails. While I would be sad if Ryan decided to not come back, I would happily continue to pay. It truly is the least I can do.

Thank you for everything, Ryan. Come back soon!

I'm sad to see this happen as Ryan not only produces great screencasts but shows the trends and popular gems along the way. I respect his decision, though - I know what burnout feels like and it's the biggest mental burden one can have. Good luck, Ryan!

Take your time Ryan! Not sure what exactly that you are going/went through. But your style and topics you covered were/are still unparalleled and sorely missed in the Rails world.

Ryan, if you are reading these: You have been doing Rails stuff for quite a while now. If you think, its getting repetitive and not challenging enough, it might not be a bad idea to diversify the screen casts away from Rails. Node, golang or anything that ignites the keen learner in you. I am sure you will do a great job making those technologies accessible to the uninitiated. Of course Ryan knows best :)

I'm happy about how open Ryan has been about this whole thing. We all suffer from burnout from time to time.

I hope he recovers completely and soon regardless of whether he continues Railscasts. And, I appreciate that he extends subscriptions and I know many people need that, but I almost wish he wouldn't as I subscribe more to thank him and look up revised episodes than to get the new content.

As a developer who has only been using RoR for about a year and a half, Railscasts are an incredible resource. Ryan saves you hours of research that you'd have to do yourself. In fact, I'd still happily pay the subscription right now even without new content.

I think he's a great at explaining stuff and a terrific teacher. Maybe his next venture should be an online school teaching general computer science or more languages/frameworks. Hopefully his burnout is with Rails alone and not teaching in general.

Recovering from a burn out myself too. Took it easy for a couple of months, went on some holidays, and now helping a startup out at the lisbon challenge.

Good luck ryan!

Take your time Ryan. We will wait patiently.

I'm surprised no one else has really stepped into his space and made much impact.