Purch today announced the acquisition of Anandtech.com, a leader in mobile, computing and IT analysis and reviews. Many of you know of Purch as the parent company of Tom’s Hardware. In hopes of clarifying some questions that naturally follow, allow me an opportunity to detail what this big announcement actually means to you as a part of the community: very, very little.
Q. Wait, what?
A. Purch bought Anandtech. Go take a peek at the press release and quotes from Anand and Ryan Smith here: http://purch.com/purch-acquires-anandtech-dominates-tech-expert-and-enthusiast-market/
Q. What does this mean for Anandtech?
A. Anandtech will continue to operate as it has always, with no change in day-to-day operations. The one major difference is that Anandtech will have access to far greater resources than before.
Q. What does this mean for the community policies and the way things work in the forum?
A. There will be no revolution, no coup d’état of the moderation team is underway. No policies are changing and the users in both communities are safe and secure. We won’t be rocking the boat, throwing the baby out with the bath water, or any other euphemism for screwing something up that works for the sake of change itself. Anandtech has a great thing going, and the people at Purch and Tom’s Hardware have always respected the Anandtech community and culture. It’s a lively, passionate crowd and that’s a big part of what makes Anandtech awesome. If there’s anything that does end up needing to change, it will happen slowly, at your urging, and with the Anandtech community’s direct input.
Q. What, if anything, will change though?
A. Again, we’d be bonkers to try to fix what isn’t broken. Anandtech has grown by quite a bit over the years, and everything you know and love will remain the same. The biggest change you may see is a greater investment in feature development and a pile of new content. We’re hoping we’ll be able to share our extensive tech industry contacts and resources, and we’ll leverage these to get more of the juicy news and reviews out to you. You may also start to see more direct involvement in the community from staffers, as we seek your input on coverage and expand engagement. By way of introduction, I’ll be hanging around to act as a point person and advocate, answering any questions you have.
Q. Are you firing or replacing everyone?
A. Hah! No. That would be unbelievably stupid.
Q. Will we be seeing new people?
A. Here and there you might. We like to grow our offerings, so as we expand coverage, you might spot some new faces over time.
Q. What about Anand?
A. This question comes up all the time on Tom’s Hardware, a site that was founded by Dr. Thomas Pabst back in 1996. Like many companies or sites, the founder moves on, but the essence remains. McDonald’s Hamburgers hasn’t seen Mr. Richard or Maurice McDonald for quite some time now. . To put it another way, a saying we’re fond of at Tom’s Hardware is that - “We are all Tom.” The spirit of the founder persists in a vibrant community on this namesake site with in-depth reviews and news coverage, and it will be entirely appropriate to say, with pride - “We are all Anand.”
Q. What about integrity? Will advertisers be running the show now?
A. We’ve got no plans to change what has made Anandtech great, and we won’t be budging on journalistic integrity.
Q. Will Anandtech and Tom’s Hardware be competing with each other for users?
A. Relations between the two sites have always been respectful and very cordial, and we share a chunk of users who visit both for news and to comment or participate in the community. Both sites have very unique cultures, and we won’t be messing around with the special sauce that makes either work. The biggest benefit to being part of the same family of brands is that the teams will be able to provide resources to each other that they wouldn’t normally have access to. It’s definitely a complimentary setup. Any competition that arises will be friendly, as in who can provide better, more in-depth coverage on a piece of tech.
Q. Will I have to register on Tom’s if I’m a member of Anandtech, or on Anandtech if I’m to continue using Tom’s?
A. Nope! There aren’t any changes to the current membership or registration setup. You can maintain registrations on both, either, or none if you like.
Q. So, for readers, this is basically a formality?
A. Pretty much! The impact to users of either site is minimal, if any at all. Over time, you’ll see additional content coming your way and things like presentation, experience, engagement and all that may improve, but there’s no big changes to your source for tech news on the web.
You may now set your hair on fire and run for the hills, if you so desire. Alternatively, I’m happy to answer any pressing questions you might have.
Warm Regards,
Joe Pishgar
Senior Community Manager, Purch
Q. Wait, what?
A. Purch bought Anandtech. Go take a peek at the press release and quotes from Anand and Ryan Smith here: http://purch.com/purch-acquires-anandtech-dominates-tech-expert-and-enthusiast-market/
Q. What does this mean for Anandtech?
A. Anandtech will continue to operate as it has always, with no change in day-to-day operations. The one major difference is that Anandtech will have access to far greater resources than before.
Q. What does this mean for the community policies and the way things work in the forum?
A. There will be no revolution, no coup d’état of the moderation team is underway. No policies are changing and the users in both communities are safe and secure. We won’t be rocking the boat, throwing the baby out with the bath water, or any other euphemism for screwing something up that works for the sake of change itself. Anandtech has a great thing going, and the people at Purch and Tom’s Hardware have always respected the Anandtech community and culture. It’s a lively, passionate crowd and that’s a big part of what makes Anandtech awesome. If there’s anything that does end up needing to change, it will happen slowly, at your urging, and with the Anandtech community’s direct input.
Q. What, if anything, will change though?
A. Again, we’d be bonkers to try to fix what isn’t broken. Anandtech has grown by quite a bit over the years, and everything you know and love will remain the same. The biggest change you may see is a greater investment in feature development and a pile of new content. We’re hoping we’ll be able to share our extensive tech industry contacts and resources, and we’ll leverage these to get more of the juicy news and reviews out to you. You may also start to see more direct involvement in the community from staffers, as we seek your input on coverage and expand engagement. By way of introduction, I’ll be hanging around to act as a point person and advocate, answering any questions you have.
Q. Are you firing or replacing everyone?
A. Hah! No. That would be unbelievably stupid.
Q. Will we be seeing new people?
A. Here and there you might. We like to grow our offerings, so as we expand coverage, you might spot some new faces over time.
Q. What about Anand?
A. This question comes up all the time on Tom’s Hardware, a site that was founded by Dr. Thomas Pabst back in 1996. Like many companies or sites, the founder moves on, but the essence remains. McDonald’s Hamburgers hasn’t seen Mr. Richard or Maurice McDonald for quite some time now. . To put it another way, a saying we’re fond of at Tom’s Hardware is that - “We are all Tom.” The spirit of the founder persists in a vibrant community on this namesake site with in-depth reviews and news coverage, and it will be entirely appropriate to say, with pride - “We are all Anand.”
Q. What about integrity? Will advertisers be running the show now?
A. We’ve got no plans to change what has made Anandtech great, and we won’t be budging on journalistic integrity.
Q. Will Anandtech and Tom’s Hardware be competing with each other for users?
A. Relations between the two sites have always been respectful and very cordial, and we share a chunk of users who visit both for news and to comment or participate in the community. Both sites have very unique cultures, and we won’t be messing around with the special sauce that makes either work. The biggest benefit to being part of the same family of brands is that the teams will be able to provide resources to each other that they wouldn’t normally have access to. It’s definitely a complimentary setup. Any competition that arises will be friendly, as in who can provide better, more in-depth coverage on a piece of tech.
Q. Will I have to register on Tom’s if I’m a member of Anandtech, or on Anandtech if I’m to continue using Tom’s?
A. Nope! There aren’t any changes to the current membership or registration setup. You can maintain registrations on both, either, or none if you like.
Q. So, for readers, this is basically a formality?
A. Pretty much! The impact to users of either site is minimal, if any at all. Over time, you’ll see additional content coming your way and things like presentation, experience, engagement and all that may improve, but there’s no big changes to your source for tech news on the web.
You may now set your hair on fire and run for the hills, if you so desire. Alternatively, I’m happy to answer any pressing questions you might have.
Warm Regards,
Joe Pishgar
Senior Community Manager, Purch
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