just a survey here to seem how many folks agree with my assessment of the current state of that once-venerable hardware site, tom's hardware. i recall umpteen years ago when the net started becoming popular and toms was one of the first and best hardware review sites. somehow over the past two years it's gone downhill considerably, to the point where i think i'm going to stop checking it altogether. some examples:
- a while back (perhaps 18 months?) an article was posted by tom (the last i've seen, i guess he's too good to actually do any real research any more) about one of the computer shows. the lead-off to the story was a picture of tom, sitting at at table in front of a big picture of, guess who, tom!, signing autographs. the entire content of the article was how lame the show was. no reporting of any products what so ever!
- during the last amd extreme event road show it was advertised that writers from toms would be present and available to answer questions. at the show there was one guy, dressed like and acting like he thought he was some kind of rock star, who barely paid attention to me when i approached with a rather detailed technical question. he acted bored and put-upon the entire time and brushed me off quickly. i had been looking forward to a technical conversation with a fellow enthusiast, instead i was treated like i wasn't important enough for him to waste his time on.
- all the articles i've read recently are focused more on being clever, sarcastic, and superior, rather than giving a straight, technically based description of the item/issue being discussed. their coverage of ces was just plain stupid and, unlike many other reviews i read, provided no information about interesting new products on the horizon.
that's my two bits. just curious if anyone else has noticed this as well.
- a while back (perhaps 18 months?) an article was posted by tom (the last i've seen, i guess he's too good to actually do any real research any more) about one of the computer shows. the lead-off to the story was a picture of tom, sitting at at table in front of a big picture of, guess who, tom!, signing autographs. the entire content of the article was how lame the show was. no reporting of any products what so ever!
- during the last amd extreme event road show it was advertised that writers from toms would be present and available to answer questions. at the show there was one guy, dressed like and acting like he thought he was some kind of rock star, who barely paid attention to me when i approached with a rather detailed technical question. he acted bored and put-upon the entire time and brushed me off quickly. i had been looking forward to a technical conversation with a fellow enthusiast, instead i was treated like i wasn't important enough for him to waste his time on.
- all the articles i've read recently are focused more on being clever, sarcastic, and superior, rather than giving a straight, technically based description of the item/issue being discussed. their coverage of ces was just plain stupid and, unlike many other reviews i read, provided no information about interesting new products on the horizon.
that's my two bits. just curious if anyone else has noticed this as well.
