News DPReview was sold to Gear Patrol

[Smaug]

Did you all see the new banner at DPR? :

I guess they've just been hammering out the legal details behind the scenes.

Time to go check out Gear Patrol and make a guess at how good DPR will be in the long term.

The details in the link from the screenshot above are here: https://www.dpreview.com/site-news/...looks-forward-to-new-chapter-with-gear-patrol

 

[Smaug]

Some of the comments below the announcement are worth reading. Jordan chimed in to say he and Chris aren't going back, for example. Nice of DPR not to ban them!

 

[dirk]

Just in case our members want to have again a confirmation:

DPRforum.com will continue as already said several times.

We are here to stay.

 

[pdk42]

Well, I guess it's sort of good news... but what a shambolic way to proceed. What were Amazon thinking?

I wonder if things will return to as they were (in both positive and negative ways)?

 

[dirk]

I wonder if things will return to as they were (in both positive and negative ways)?

That is a good question. It is too early to say what they will do with the dpreview site and the forum. Of course they will say that they keep the best etc. But the financial situation will not improve, if they run it like in the past. You can not change something without changing something

Gear patrol seems to be more a marketing site to push products with so called reviews as far as I can tell from their website. We have to be very patient until we have a clear view about what they really want to do. I mean they can promise now everything to keep the people coming back again and again. The proof is in the pudding in 6 or 12 months.

I do not see their core competence in forum management, to say it in a diplomatic way

 

[pdk42]

That is a good question. It is too early to say what they will do with the dpreview site and the forum. Of course they will say that they keep the best etc. But the financial situation will not improve, if they run it like in the past. You can not change something without changing something

Gear patrol seems to be more a marketing site to push products with so called reviews as far as I can tell from their website. We have to be very patient until we have a clear view about what they really want to do. I mean they can promise now everything to keep the people coming back again and again. The proof is in the pudding in 6 or 12 months.

I do not see their core competence in forum management, to say it in a diplomatic way

I'd not heard of Gear Patrol before, but have just taken a quick look. My observations are:

- Very US focussed
- Very broad range of stuff covered - everything from coffee machines to trucks
- Doesn't seem a natural fit to a dedicated photo review and forum site

I wish them luck of course. But it sounds like another Amazon-style acquisition, but now by an organisation with shallower pockets.

 

[dirk]

I wish them luck of course. But it sounds like another Amazon-style acquisition, but now by an organisation with shallower pockets.

I agree. If it was financially not interesting for Amazon, I am curious what they will do with DPReview/ change DPReview into to make it long term profitable without the free servers of Amazon. Time will tell...

No official commitment yet for the DPReview forums in the announcement by the way.

 

[archer]

Yes, there is. Read the end of the second paragraph of the announcement.

 

[dirk]

Yes, there is. Read the end of the second paragraph of the announcement.

You mean this:

I want to reassure you that we remain firmly committed to what makes DPReview great: the best camera reviews in the business, industry-leading photography news and features, and one of the most active photography communities anywhere on the internet.

I have seen so many press releases of friendly and unfriendly takeovers in my life already, that this very broad statement at the very first day of the announcement means nothing to me.

What else shall they say? That they will close the forums and are interested only in the reviews and page impressions? Imagine that shitstorm....

 

[archer]

Some people see a glass halve empty and some see a glass halve full. But I understand your feelings.