The Power of Tech Enthusiast Sites

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB110298326599699100-H9jeoNhlal3o5ysZ4KHcaiFm4,00.html' target='_blank'>http://online.wsj.com/article_email...HcaiFm4,00.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Mr. Brome and cybersleuths like him are at the center of a teeming world of online cellphone gossip that is taking on an influential role in the $100 billion industry. The sites have emerged over the past couple of years, riding the global boom in the gadgets as their position in popular culture grows. With names like engadget.com and mobiletracker.net, the sites draw users capable of spending hours debating everything from a certain cellphone's battery life to the location of its volume button. The sites used to draw protests and legal threats from companies unhappy at seeing their secret product plans publicly aired. Now, cellphone makers are starting to court them, as their popularity surges to several hundred thousand users a month for some sites."</i><br /><br />The article focuses mostly on the phone sites, but it does mention yours truly:<br /><br /><i>"Jason Dunn, who started a site devoted to palm-sized personal computers several years ago from his Calgary home, regularly gets invited to Microsoft Corp.'s campus in Redmond, Wash."</i><br /><br />Damn, no link! ;-) At any rate, tech enthusiast sites are certainly a powerful force in the marketplace - I know that I look to my fellow enthusiast sites for reviews and opinions on things before I buy a product, and I don't have very much trust in PC World, C|NET, or any other mainstream tech news site. Where do you fall? Survey time!

[Ken Mattern]

Jason,

I had to laugh when I saw 100% voted for "They're the most important information influence", especially when I saw that my vote was the second one :lol:

But there is a good point there. I do check sites like this one and many others when I make my technology decisions. Who can better inform me, the individuals who use (love or hate) their devices or the manufacturers/retailers who have a vested interest in selling to me? The user wins hands down. I have made major PPC purchasing decisions based on what I have read here and will continue to do so.

[emuelle1]

I'll be honest. I selected "not important at all", not because I don't trust the sites, but because this is the only one I really know of and I'm fairly new to it. I can't say I've taken the time to look up other tech enthusiast sites. Normally I'll either buy whatever's convenient or in the case of my used ipaq, whatever falls into my lap. I'll sometimes read reviews if I feel like taking the time to do research.

I will be more likely to trust the enthusiast sites to the mainstream media, however. At least if the ownership of this site were bought out by say, Palm, the membership would still have honest opinions and it could be seen through. You don't always know what axe a mainstream reviewer has to grind.

Ask me after I've been around a while and used this site to make some decisions. My vote will most likely change by then.

[Kati Compton]

So, I should probably qualify my answer. I said they're the most important. But that's really for *gadgets*. For consumer tech like TVs and stereos, I look at both enthusiast sites and mainstream ones.

[dochall]

The first and only place I look for information on pocket pc hardware, software or accessories are enthusiast sites. - PPC thoughts primarly but there are others. This is both for editorial but also the community opinions - e.g what do the first people to get their hands on PPC X think of it.

The information in reviews tends more detailed and relate to more to me than main stream sites. In face my only use of main stream sites (e.g. cnet) for curiousity to see what they have got wrong.

The same goes for support. I am on my fifth ipaq and I have not spoken to a support drone or posted on an official HP forum.

It's about time that both the mainstream media and, more importantly, the OEMs recognise the importance of sites like this and really started to support them.

[liquidblaze]

If it's about mobile technology, routers, just about anything except blenders and TVs - I will get my information from users. Not from "sponsored" mags or portals.

If I need a listing of the specs or a better worded promo folder - I'll go check out PC World and c|Net

[MikeUnwired]

I'm much more likely to go to an enthusiast site over a mass media site when looking for reviews on specific items. I might trust CNet for information on a printer -- they do a pretty good job on that category -- but, I wouldn't listen to anything they say on a PDA or mobile phone. Mass media sites generally don't have the depth of experience it takes to review some items properly -- leaving me with information that clouds the actual experience with the product in its wake.

I'd much rather read a less refined review at a site like this or The-Gadgeteer rather than what Walt Mossberg for The Wall Street Journal thinks. Sometimes, I have to count on old Walt though as he sometimes gets his hot little hands on things long before an enthusiast reviewer has access. I've learned to poo-poo some of the hype that comes from those early mass media love fest reviews.

[tourdewolf]

The first and only place I look for information on pocket pc hardware, software or accessories are enthusiast sites.

The same goes for support. I am on my fifth ipaq and I have not spoken to a support drone or posted on an official HP forum.

It's about time that both the mainstream media and, more importantly, the OEMs recognise the importance of sites like this and really started to support them.

For me that doesn't only include buying decisions. Thanks to sites like this, (and the popularity of pHpbb and vbulletin) I too haven't had to call anyone for support in years. In fact it has become more that convienence but a necessity to find 'real' answers by searching the wealth of knowledge compiled on sites like this and others.

[MaximumPDA]

Sometimes I think mainstream review sites just don’t get it, especially ones that are affiliates with print or television media. They get products tossed in front of them for a hour or two, maybe a day if were lucky and they have to draw a conclusion based of limited exposure. I know for fact I have read reviews from Walt where it was obvious he simply didn’t get what he was looking at.

I do like TechTV/G4 to see new products and some of those guys know there gear, but I thinks it’s a fine line between too much information or not enough information about a product when they show it.

I usually take about 4 or 5 reviews from various trusted websites to make my buying decisions about products, unless I can get the unit shipped to me directly :wink:

--Bill

[mr_Ray]

I might pay some attention to mainstream media if they could go more than half a dozen lines without some sort of glaring error...

you have bear in mind though that this is a very self-selecting poll - how many people that don't pay attention to - or even know of - a site like PPCT are going to be voting....?

[omikron.sk]

poll about the enthusist sites on the enthusist site? that will certainly throw some relevant result :wink:

however, keep it going....

[MS Mobiles]

Damn, no link! ;-)

I wonder why? Could it be because of the fact that WSJ is slightly anti-MS biased?

Yeah, pity that no clickable links to Jason's websites were there! But clickable links to websites of other people mentioned in the article. I really wonder why...

[Janak Parekh]

poll about the enthusist sites on the enthusist site? that will certainly throw some relevant result :wink:
I don't think anyone is under the illusion that this is a "generally-applicable" poll. :P

--janak

[disconnected]

I can't imagine my PPC world without sites like this. I bought my first PPC on a whim, but without the enthusiast sites I'd never have known what it was capable of, or how to get it to do what it was capable of; it would probably have ended up in a corner gathering dust. I probably would never have bought a second one.......or third, fourth, or fifth. So the sites not only influenced which PPCs I bought, but also how many.

[Jason Dunn]

poll about the enthusist sites on the enthusist site? that will certainly throw some relevant result :wink:

:? Actually, it was aimed more at trying to see what the visitors here think of mainstream media and whether or not they factor it in for purchasing decisions.

[WyattEarp]

I picked door #1 only because users are truly the best source of information as far as "real world" usage is concerned. For me they come in second only to the actual specs of a device and my needs. I put those three together and I have all the information I need to make my decision.

Mainstream media sucks at this all together. These people either have no tech experience at all, give very biased opinions instead of the facts or just don't spend time to actually use the device and see what it's about.

[MadBison]

No clickable link, but a Google on "Jason Dunn" has your site at number two position...

This may require a bit more effort on behalf of the reader, but at least it can be Dunn. ;-)

David

[Jason Dunn]

No clickable link, but a Google on "Jason Dunn" has your site at number two position...

Heh - I used to be #1. Google must have done a shuffle because now my NFL counterpart is #1. Damn! :lol:

[Darius Wey]

Heh - I used to be #1. Google must have done a shuffle because now my NFL counterpart is #1. Damn! :lol:

Heh. Looks nothing like you too. ;)

[MaximumPDA]

I am happy to say that I am still in the number #1 spot for my name.

How do we know that Jason is not the football player....it could be a HUGE conspiracy with many levels of people and organizations behind it. The person you think is Jason Dunn could just be a puppet for the real Jason Dunn. Ok, its WAY too late and I am make far less sense than usual. LOL

Hmmm... I bet if a bunch of us got together we could Google bomb him back to number 1. Does anyone know how to do that?

--Bill Landon

[Jorgen]

Sometimes I think mainstream review sites just don’t get it, especially ones that are affiliates with print or television media

Amen to that! What they write is probably anyway "fake but accurate" (a big thank you to CBS for revealing mainstream medias sources).

Jorgen

[Menneisyys]

I'd say I don't have very much trust in PC World, C|NET, or any other mainstream tech news site/mag. Most of the "mainstream" mags, everywhere in the world (also here in Europe) are riddled with errors and the authors of the articles seem not to know anything about PDA's. I sometimes read the printed version of PC World, Chip (a German mag with several subsidiaries / local mags everywhere in Europe) etc and I'd certainly say none of them can be called a real PDA pro.

Remember the infamous New York Times articles? http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=14468 and the others? Unfortunately, the mainstream media is just like that...

[FrozenIpaq]

CNET has very good short reviews with the video clips, i like them, but they do not get updated much for ppcs

[possmann]

When researching a new product or emerging technology I find that the reviews posted on sites (like this one) far exceed, in both depth and scope, any review done by the "mainstream media". face it - we ar geeks looking for all the nitty-gritty details and you are just not going to find that from the larger/mainstreaming types. Their reviews tend to be geared more towards the general population and certainly do not really dig into products like I want them to. Still it's fun to read what their "experts" say about things.