Marcio Kabke Pinheiro Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 https://www.dpreview.com/news/5901145460/dpreview-com-to-close FHDcrew, ntblowz, karin and 1 other 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfoundmass Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 I know everyone wasn't a fan, but one less camera media outlet is not good. Such are the risks when you sell your site to a larger company that only cares about the bottom line, I guess. Not good news for the community as a whole, and really unfortunate for all those who are losing their jobs. IronFilm, karin and PannySVHS 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyalinejim Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 Wow! I guess site founder Phil Askey got out at the right time. His Insta profile describes him as "now travelling and eating around the world". Here's a recent interview with him. https://www.dpreview.com/interviews/5323285840/phil-askey-founders-interview The comments towards the end are a little ironic now "Amazon are giving the site everything it needs to continue to be the leading voice for everything photography related." ...until they pull the plug! The forums will be gone. I still have esoteric questions that a dpreview thread will answer. Are FB groups where it's at nowadays? They suck because they're insular, hard to read, and search. I imagine in the future, when these words are also gone, I'll be telling my kids "once upon a time there were internet boards and forums". sanveer, karin and PannySVHS 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntblowz Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 Damn that is shocking indeed! But giving the current economy situation I can kinda see many corpo want to cut as much cost as possible. IronFilm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcio Kabke Pinheiro Posted March 21, 2023 Author Share Posted March 21, 2023 But Amazon have almost infinity storage. They could keep the site open as an archive. (but probably they won´t because will remember everyone that they killed it) PannySVHS, JurijTurnsek and karin 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hyalinejim Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 Maybe they figured they would prefer people to read reviews on amazon.com instead of dpreview.com IronFilm and PannySVHS 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcio Kabke Pinheiro Posted March 21, 2023 Author Share Posted March 21, 2023 4 minutes ago, hyalinejim said: Maybe they figured they would prefer people to read reviews on amazon.com instead of dpreview.com Forums were toxic as hell. But their Comparison Tool helped me a lot. karin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PannySVHS Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 Terrible move from amazon. they got not culture. Oh, hold it, they do: reset culture. karin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markr041 Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 The problem was the site had no revenue source. There are essentially no ads, no paid subscriptions. Yet they archived all those uploaded photos for free, provided equipment reviews for free, provided moderators for free. All that costs money, but they had nothing to financially support the activities, relying on Amazon's subsidies. The "terrible" move was Amazon subsidizing the site and tolerating a leadership that made no effort to cover costs. This was a charity. But even charities need donors. The leadership failed to look for revenue sources. Winning an Emmy does not qualify you for running anything that requires resources (look at the bio of the Manager of the site). I do not understand how this site survives either. It seems to rely on the good graces of one man, which is not sustainable either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfoundmass Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 47 minutes ago, Marcio Kabke Pinheiro said: But Amazon have almost infinity storage. They could keep the site open as an archive. (but probably they won´t because will remember everyone that they killed it) They've already announced the site itself will remain available for a few months before being deleted. Just a shame. PannySVHS and Emanuel 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Andrew Reid Posted March 21, 2023 Administrators Share Posted March 21, 2023 They won't close. It's a big asset and will have a lot of buyers. Current staff might go over to the new non-Amazon site or they will leave and do something else, which for me would be a good thing as they're not really up to the job. DPR has a ton of camera info that would be very sad to lose from the internet, the database of specs, and historic reviews are part of the camera world's culture and it would be vandalism of the highest order if some idiot decided to delete it all rather than keep it online. It costs almost nothing to keep a website online and I am surprised Amazon is making such deep cuts at all, as DPReview is hardly likely to be a huge loss making part of the company. What are the REAL reasons the site is closing? It surely can't be due to money. Perhaps a big fall out at the top between the DPReview management and Amazon? If Amazon really are looking to save a few thousand dollars running DPReview which drives a ton of traffic to Amazon for camera purchases, then how bad must it be at Amazon?! They were hiring like crazy during covid, big profit boom, then suddenly they can't afford to run a camera blog? Even I can afford to run a fucking camera blog. I smell something fishy. Either the news is fake and they already have a buyer lined up. Chris and Jordan seemed really chirpy in their jokey closing video. Or they are all hired already by a new site and will simply rebrand the existing one. There is simply no way they will delete it. The SEO and Google links alone are worth redirecting to a new site domain. Why bin it? They're not telling the truth. Emanuel, sanveer, Django and 3 others 3 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfoundmass Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 4 minutes ago, markr041 said: The problem was the site had no revenue source. There are essentially no ads, no paid subscriptions. Yet they archived all those uploaded photos for free, provided equipment reviews for free, provided moderators for free. All that costs money, but they had nothing to financially support the activities, relying on Amazon's subsidies. The "terrible" move was Amazon subsidizing the site and tolerating a leadership that made no effort to cover costs. This was a charity. But even charities need donors. The leadership failed to look for revenue sources. Winning an Emmy does not qualify you for running anything that requires resources (look at the bio of the Manager of the site). I do not understand how this site survives either. It seems to rely on the good graces of one man, which is not sustainable either. If you think that those running DPReview had that much control to do any of those things without Amazon's approval you don't understand how corporations work. That isn't to absolve the people at DPReview of all responsibility, but when you sell your company to a corporation you cease to have that kind of control. karin and PannySVHS 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanveer Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 It just seems awfully abrupt. Not even a months notice and they're shutting down. PannySVHS 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Django Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 Honestly I'm shocked. No real explanation either which seems like a giant slap in the face of their community. PannySVHS 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newfoundmass Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 2 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said: They won't close. It's a big asset and will have a lot of buyers. Current staff might go over to the new non-Amazon site or they will leave and do something else, which for me would be a good thing as they're not really up to the job. DPR has a ton of camera info that would be very sad to lose from the internet, the database of specs, and historic reviews are part of the camera world's culture and it would be vandalism of the highest order if some idiot decided to delete it all rather than keep it online. It costs almost nothing to keep a website online and I am surprised Amazon is making such deep cuts at all, as DPReview is hardly likely to be a huge loss making part of the company. What are the REAL reasons the site is closing? It surely can't be due to money. Perhaps a big fall out at the top between the DPReview management and Amazon? If Amazon really are looking to save a few thousand dollars running DPReview which drives a ton of traffic to Amazon for camera purchases, then how bad must it be at Amazon?! They were hiring like crazy during covid, big profit boom, then suddenly they can't afford to run a camera blog? Even I can afford to run a fucking camera blog. I smell something fishy. Either the news is fake and they already have a buyer lined up. Chris and Jordan seemed really chirpy in their jokey closing video. Or they are all hired already by a new site and will simply rebrand the existing one. There is simply no way they will delete it. The SEO and Google links alone are worth redirecting to a new site domain. Why bin it? They're not telling the truth. I suspect a new site will open, but I do have to wonder if all the content will be carried over. It will be a damn shame if it isn't, and there will be only one party to blame for that: Amazon. I think Chris and Jordan are probably in a more advantageous position than most of the DPReview staff. Most of the stuff they tested came from The Camera Store anyway, so I doubt little will change for them in that regard when they start their own channel. Plus I imagine they'd probably be welcomed back to The Camera Store in general. PannySVHS 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Andrew Reid Posted March 21, 2023 Administrators Share Posted March 21, 2023 Just now, Django said: Honestly I'm shocked. No real explanation either which seems like a giant slap in the face of their community. Indeed. No real explanation, it's all very fishy. Watch them bounce back in a week miraculously the site is saved and is going to continue under the ownership of Smugmug as Canon's in-house magazine! Django and PannySVHS 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markr041 Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 8 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said: They won't close. It's a big asset and will have a lot of buyers. Current staff might go over to the new non-Amazon site or they will leave and do something else, which for me would be a good thing as they're not really up to the job. We have a prediction! But, DPreview is a money pit, with no revenue sources. That is hardly a financial asset. And, btw, I would bet that hardly anyone posting on DPReview bought any equipment, certainly not cameras or lenses, from Amazon. I bet few here do either. DPReview was a charity. Maybe a donor is needed, not someone looking to make money from an "asset." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Andrew Reid Posted March 21, 2023 Administrators Share Posted March 21, 2023 1 minute ago, newfoundmass said: I suspect a new site will open, but I do have to wonder if all the content will be carried over. It will be a damn shame if it isn't, and there will be only one party to blame for that: Amazon. Amazon might not be to blame. Why would Amazon block the sale of the asset or content carrying over to a new domain? After all it feeds Amazon.com with thousands upon thousands of sales leads and affiliate links from Google and social media. They will want that to stick around and will probably help with the sale. 1 minute ago, newfoundmass said: I think Chris and Jordan are probably in a more advantageous position than most of the DPReview staff. Most of the stuff they tested came from The Camera Store anyway, so I doubt little will change for them in that regard when they start their own channel. Plus I imagine they'd probably be welcomed back to The Camera Store in general. It won't impact them in the slightest. Found it interesting they chose not to mention Barney Britton in their big thank you section of the video, he is after all pretty much their boss. Chris and Jordan will simply carry on - I don't know if they are employed as freelancers or not, probably are. The main losers in this are not any of the DPR staff actually, it's the users. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Andrew Reid Posted March 21, 2023 Administrators Share Posted March 21, 2023 5 minutes ago, markr041 said: We have a prediction! But, DPreview is a money pit, with no revenue sources. That is hardly a financial asset. Perhaps! Chris and Jordan seemed very keen, almost begging for more subscribers so maybe the pressure was on to monetise the channel. On the other hand DPReview's main website has a small head count, all the gear comes on loan for free from the camera industry and they run sponsored content as well as advertising. So if it is a money pit it is a very small one especially from the perspective of a company like Amazon. 5 minutes ago, markr041 said: And, btw, I would bet that hardly anyone posting on DPReview bought any equipment, certainly not cameras or lenses, from Amazon. I bet few here do either. DPReview was a charity. Maybe a donor is needed, not someone looking to make money from an "asset." It was obviously valuable enough to be bought by a company the size of Amazon and it's a key strategic part of the camera industry so the likes of Canon will be keen to make sure it stays around. In my opinion they are fishing for sympathy and a buyer. It won't be closing, just changing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSMW Posted March 21, 2023 Share Posted March 21, 2023 31 minutes ago, Andrew Reid said: Either the news is fake and they already have a buyer lined up. Chris and Jordan seemed really chirpy in their jokey closing video. Yes, just saw that trawling YouTube. Obviously they already have a Plan B in place because that entire video was hardly a “goodbye, we’re up shit creek” piece was it. I don’t really care either way… On one hand DPR is a bit of an institution and quite useful, but at the same time, as long as you did not go into the comments section which is a pretty toxic pit to step into. It does all seem like there is something ‘happening’ that is not simply a closure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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