HOT DEAL! Anandtech Forums for $30/yr.

[slycat]

<<

<< :| Not worth it at all. The day they ask for subscription or out, I am out. Not that I have even posted any hot deal lately! >>


YOU PPL ARE STILL SO FRIGGING IGNORANT AND STUPID!!! READ THE POSTS. THIS IS NOT MANDATORY!!!! :|

I think it would be beneficial for the forums if those that say, "If we have to pay, we'll leave"

Leave already! FIrst off you are too ignorant/stupid to comprehend what's going on with subscriptions. Second, you are probably the ones that constantly whine about the hot deals if you don't get them, or if there was a pricing error. Go somewhere else then. You won't be missed.

AND LEARN TO READ!!! IT IS NOT MANDATORY!!! You ppl make me frustrated. Knowing that there are so many more ignorant ppl out there..... >>



...dude, i think they are speaking HYPOTHETICALLY, if that was made mandatory, so you don't have to keep coming in here with your panties in a knot and saying everyone is stupid anf ignorant.

 

[bargainshopper]

Don't think people will sign up if it is not mandatory. Why pay if you can get it free.

 

[DKim81]

$30 bucks a year? HELL NO

 

[OrlandoTiger]

I think most understand its not mandatory... I also think that many are also afraid of what sometimes happens when a site starts charging for a premium service.There are benefits for those willing to pay for them,and depending on the revenue of the site,that money is either put back into the site,or its cream if its a popular site with ad revenue.Thats fine for the few who are interested.In the past ive seen greed set in and soon nothing is free any longer when they want to make money from every side.For the 3 of you left out there without cable,kind of like your local cbs or abc sending you a bill for your "viewing pleasure" of watching all those commercials.
I just hope anandtech which I have loved up to this point dosent go down that slippery slope...(as he holds his wallet)

 

[GraveJoKer]

I 'ld be willing to shell out a couple of dollars, if the forum improves, in terms of the uptime and speed.
Though for such an excellent board to charge ..

 

[Agaricus]

They have every right to set up a premium service as has most everybody else. I have no need for 1,000 PMs for instance and will be perfectly happy to wait for
slow screens. If they ever do decide to go to all subscription, I'll do what I have always done before and move on. I think the idea to ban smileys was a good one however. Won't save a lot of bandwidth but helps.

 

[psteng19]

Not worth it IMO.

Let's say you are one of the few paying subscribers and you post a shady question in an OT thread.
99.9% of the non-paying members won't even bother viewing that thread because it takes so long to download/browse, therefore you never get your question answered.
(or your FS/FT item won't sell because you don't get enough visits, hot deal ideas won't get posted, etc.)
so even if you do pay, only the other paying members will get to view your thread at good speeds, while most others won't.

with such a large number of loyal members however, i do believe that this forum will still survive, even with voluntary subscription fees.
the slow speed will just deter new members, which may be a good thing

i like the suggestion of more ads and pop ups. i can take pop ups better than the current state of the forums.

or maybe we can end new forum membership now and allow only existing members to browse??
lowers traffic, decreases database size, etc.
a little unfair, but you gotta do what you gotta do

 

[GraveJoKer]

I don't see how banning smileys would save bandwidth??

 

[MegaNerd]

Is this the same Anandtech that I saw featured on 60 Minutes some time ago, and the creator (Anand) was worth so many beaucoups megabucks?

Nah, I must be mistaken!!

 

[Kwad Guy]

I guess I must be the only person who finds it extremely irritating
that they took away any contextual searches from the search
engine (making it close to worthless) and then "conveniently"
find a way to bring them back, but only if you pay the voluntary
fee.

Oh well. Capitalism in action. Will be interesting to see if it works.

Kwad

 

[yhlee]

I'd pay it. I'll just skip the starbucks crap for a week

To me, information (no matter how mundane) is something i would pay for. Also, the enjoyment of reading 'highly technical' (even though my posts seem to be deleted now ), off topic is worth it. Just like i'd pay 99.99 for faster internet access ("coming soon" [right now i pay 39.99 for 640/90]) i'd pay for faster access.. Of course, if this means the regulars won't be showing up anymore... It's a difficult decision for these guys.

-young

 

[Tung]

<< Have any of you guys ever thought of the idea that it could be possible that Anand purposely made the forums slower and moving some hardware for dedicated Subscription use? I swear, anand forums were a lot faster before, even with all the PMs and full text search enabled. Even though they turned all that off, and did multiple hardware upgrades, its as slow as ever. Where would Anand get the hardware for the subscribers in the first place? Wouldn't the easiest way just be to use a machine that is being used for the forums now, thus leaving the forums with even less capacity? Just a thought.... >>



you're not the only one. i've noticed this too. now i can see why
pay $30? no way.
cheap? sorry. im just a poor college student.

 

[crypticlogin]

<< 99.97% of the members who read this hot deal forum are leaching trolls. At any moment, there are probably 200 of you who are waiting to pounce on the latest deal. You get great deals, and kill them off within minutes. You leach leach leach and never give back. Now, when you have to actually give something, you cry wolf! >>



Although I've always thought this, I never wanted to acknowledge it since it sounds pretty indignant. I think if you REALLY want to knock down bandwidth issues, you make user registration mandatory, otherwise no read access period. At the very least, you get a few less lurkers and only the diehard members stick around.

 

[Cyberizer]

<<

<< :| Not worth it at all. The day they ask for subscription or out, I am out. Not that I have even posted any hot deal lately! >>


YOU PPL ARE STILL SO FRIGGING IGNORANT AND STUPID!!! READ THE POSTS. THIS IS NOT MANDATORY!!!! :|

I think it would be beneficial for the forums if those that say, "If we have to pay, we'll leave"

Leave already! FIrst off you are too ignorant/stupid to comprehend what's going on with subscriptions. Second, you are probably the ones that constantly whine about the hot deals if you don't get them, or if there was a pricing error. Go somewhere else then. You won't be missed.

AND LEARN TO READ!!! IT IS NOT MANDATORY!!! You ppl make me frustrated. Knowing that there are so many more ignorant ppl out there..... >>



I guess you need to relax some. The reason we visit these forums is to SAVE on deals, if that entails PAYING for it, I feel it is not worth it. You of course are entitled to disagree and feel comfortable paying for it. You are making a lot of assumptions about me in your reply, but I will take the higher road and won't retort in kind.

 

[Perknose]

iBill, what are we talkin' 'bout here, that squeaky Gates guy?
Or, is it like RastaSoft, as inI and iBill?
Smokin' the Crucial inline module, bruddah! Don't Bogart that slot, my friend.

 

[jeffrey]

Anandtech Subscriptions only accepts Visa or Mastercard. How the heck do we pricematch when the price drops??

 

[VRoOMdesigns]

I just registered over at http://www.gotapex.com/forums.

 

[FuzzyBee]

<< I guess I must be the only person who finds it extremely irritating
that they took away any contextual searches from the search
engine (making it close to worthless) and then "conveniently"
find a way to bring them back, but only if you pay the voluntary
fee. >>



I'm with you on this one - especially considering a topic-only search in the HD or FS/FT forums is pretty pointless anymore.

 

[Doomguy]

This thread will be deleted soon, watch. Ars has very a very good community and very good software/hardware/gaming forums that are free and fast. You gotta pay for the lounge though.

Ad advertising can't pay for the costs of running a high-bandwidth forum anywhere. I'm willing to bet a good majority of you have good paying, full time jobs. $30 should be pocket change to you guys.

 

[Danman]

I do not work and I am only 16 in school but I would have 30 dollars a year for this place. The past several months I have been on this board I have learned soo much. I learned how to build my own computer, meet new friends and gain new knowledge I never knew before. Knowledge is priceless to me which it means a lot to me. Just my 2 cents.

 

[azdevil]

here are some free hot deal links
FatWallet
Coupon Site
jump on deals
FlamingBargins
Fry's Insider
Hot Deals Club
Price Watch
DealUtopia
AbleShopper
PriceCombat
FishingForDeals Forum
Ben's Bargins
These are some of the other free sites, this is where I'd bet 80% of AT posts come from.
Enjoy and keep posting!

They can charge of for our AT Forum.........but they can't take away our FREEEEDOMMM!

 

[coloumb]

There seem to be valid and invalid complaints regarding this issue. However, if Anandtech wants to charge, they have every right to do so. If you don't want to pay, that's your decision.

IMHO - the model of paying for hot deals is identical to CostCo. You can either be a member and pay to buy something in their store or have someone you know who's already a member go buy the stuff for you.

However, in this day and age of information, it's easy to find an alternative that suits your needs [FREE hot deals].

 

[kt]

<< I can't believe how ignorant you ppl are. They will not be charging you to use the forum. If you decide to subscribe, you would be getting benefits!! :| I can't believe you ppl. GO TO THE F-ING LINK AND READ!!! :|:|:| >>



Anyone know of any hotdeals on anger management class for this guy?

 

[Sanjoelo]

<< YOU PPL ARE STILL SO FRIGGING IGNORANT AND STUPID!!! READ THE POSTS. THIS IS NOT MANDATORY!!!! :|

I think it would be beneficial for the forums if those that say, "If we have to pay, we'll leave"

Leave already! FIrst off you are too ignorant/stupid to comprehend what's going on with subscriptions. Second, you are probably the ones that constantly whine about the hot deals if you don't get them, or if there was a pricing error. Go somewhere else then. You won't be missed.

AND LEARN TO READ!!! IT IS NOT MANDATORY!!! You ppl make me frustrated. Knowing that there are so many more ignorant ppl out there..... >>



Whoa. Easy there, hoss. Damn. Go get a hooker or somethin'

 

[Nack]

The bandwidth difference is like night and day. Waiting 30 seconds for a small thread to load when you have a cable modem gets really frustrating really quick, particularly when there are other forums that are lightning fast, and free. I read the subscription screen, and they seem to be quite honest about the fact that the hardware is up to date, they have just severely cut the bandwidth available to free users. I see no reason to disbelieve what they say. They don't state their motivations for doing this, but I think it is pretty obvious. The difference right now, is the difference between painfully slow (for free users) and lightning fast (for subscription users). You would think that would encourage subscriptions, but in the long run, I think it will just drive contributing users away.

I don't think it is a good idea, but they have every right to charge for their service. I have always thought that the AT forums were a little too good to be free, but the fact remains that there are other great forums that will still be free AND USABLE at the same time. I think the owners have to realize that with the free forums set to run this slowly, MANY users will leave for other forums, a few will just lose interest and come back less often, and a VERY FEW will pay to get the functionality they have become used to getting for free (up until the past couple weeks). The really great thing about AT is that you have super hardware forums, AND a super hot deals forum in one place. There are other super hot deals forums (like FW) and other super hardware forums, but the two together are a nice, unique combination. As for me, I will probably stick around, but come less often. I can't justify paying almost 10% of what my cable-modem costs to use one forum, as I frequent MANY forums (at least 5 or 10), and if they all did that, it would break me. I hope the forums make it, and don't lose too many users over this ill-conceived idea. Good luck.

Nack