News Staff changes at Bit-tech and Bit-gamer

Firstly... thank you for all your efforts over the years to make this site (and Custom PC) what it is. Its on my favourites list for a reason, along with other great tech sites. I admit that of recent times the news flow had slowed to a trickle, but I have always valued your opinions.

A few pointers for the new teams / direction :

Sites like bgr.com and theverge.com seem to have successfully reinvented themselves recently in this sector. Im sure you (and most of the site readers) are aware of them, but take note of what makes them successful, and copy them where necessary.
Also.. one of the things I always liked about bit-tech is that it had a UK focus .. or relevance should I say. Dont lose that.
And finally... remember to add value to each and every article / review. Its the personal touch and editorial that we cant find elsewhere that it so important. Give us more insight into who you all are / how the process works / your labs and what they look like etc etc... As an example.. just look at how Anand writes reviews on Anandtech.com compared with other reviews... he add's value.

Anyways... may bit-tech and custompc continue to live on (albeit wearing new clothes).

 

Sad news.

What is going to happen to the podcasts if you are all working from home?

 

Sounds quite exciting.

Is never great to hear of job losses (which is how the announcement reads as - i.e. laying off an entire team, even if some will be 'retained' somewhat as freelancers), but I support the splitting of Custom PC and bit-tech. Will probably resubscribe to the mag as a result. The old 'system' was getting a bit silly IMO.

Simon also seems level-headed and open, looking at the 'Bit-Tech questions' thread.

 

Surely, you mean 'disassembles', old bean?

To dissemble is to hide behind a falsehood, to lie, to conceal with the intention to deceive.

But, I digress...

No disassemble!
[/Johnny 5]

 

While it's worrying that some of the better staff writers are now working freelance, which may mean they inevitably gravitate elsewhere; I hold out hope that this also signals more content for the website. Since joining Dennis the website has been bear. To the extent where my bookmark now go straight to the forums and I rarely venture to the main page, as there's nothing to see! Let's hope this changes, especially as Bit-Tech now has to compete with the rapidly growing Aria community and it's ever branching out into new content areas.

My forum ID says I've been at Bit-Tech since '2003', now this is my second account after the great forum death of that time, so I've probably been reading here for the best part of a decade (when did the site open?). Things have changed, some for the better, and some for the worse.

I miss Tim.

 

Bit of a shame, but the forum will carry on getting worse as more and more morons use the internet..

Seriously though, I'm sure the articles will still flow, and the forums will still be busy. If not, there's plenty more websites. Who knows, perhaps Denis will offload Bit-Tech to a cheap buyer and it'll go back to being enthusiast run for non-profit.

Thanks to the chaps who are leaving, hello to the new ones.

 

I am sorry to hear this. this is a community i have come to appreciate, including the editorial team. it will be sad to not have you on board and i reserve the right to cancel my sub if things turn not to my liking!

Thanks for your hard work.

 

"I miss Tim"

Me too!, along with the regulars in the forums, when they was a nice and close nit community, before the userbase grew a little to large to be personal

Been here since 2001, Anyone here Remember when it was BiT-Technologies, rather than bit-tech ?

I remember when people thought Koolvin was a mad man for taking a dremel too a then 200 quid, alloy case, when they was still quite a new thing to the market.

What about all the great modding guides, the little bits of electronics, simple fan controllers, wiring a LCD or VFD when they was still driven from the parallel port.

Case mods like Macro Black, and the detail that went into the article about it, i mean yeah now there are some truly awesome mods and custom builds about, but now a lot of them come at such a high cost, its beyond the relms of what most people can afford to do, and skill wise, a lot of it has been lost, well more moved in a different direction than lost, as with easier access to Laser cutters and CNC tooling, carving a funky shape from a hunk of metal or acrylic has become an exercise with a mouse and a credit card, rather than picking up some tools. Thats not to take anything away from the current top builds, L3p D3sk is superb, and a well deserved winner of the mod of the year title

Slowly but surely the top notch content started to slide, the mod guides went, the updates became less detailed, then less frequent, more and more of the site was taken over with games content (which kudos to the games lads, tended to be the better content on the site, written in a style that i liked), which was a welcome addition, but it took over a bit too much at the expense of the Mods, and tech articles, which was always the cornerstone of bit-tech, in the good old days, there was at least a couple of updates a day that caught my eye, along with a glut of relevant modding news, these days im lucky to spot something that flicks my switch enough to click the link

noticed im harping on a bit, so will bugger off and file away my rose tinted glasses

(please excuse me if that was a bit disjointed, been a long day!)

 

Disjointed, maybe, but my thoughts exactly.

 

As sad as this news is - and believe me, it deeply saddened me when I first heard of it a while back - Simon's a great guy and I've known him for a number of years. Of all the journalists I know in the UK, he's one of the few who I think can do what is necessary to move bit-tech forwards - the site has evolved a few times as Chris (kna) says and I think there's still potential for it to evolve further.

I unfortunately won't be around much due to the conflicts of interest my new career could create for the editorial team (which is why I have also recently resigned as a moderator), but from the bottom of my heart I very much wish the team - both past, present and future - all the success.

Tim

 

+1

 

Wow THE Simon Brew?!!! The Simon Brew from Micro Mart and Den of Geek? I used to read Micro Mart EVERY week. Turns out that it cost more than buying one issue of Custom PC but Micro Mart was good. Love Simon's ranting and raging on some of the issues in there ^_^
Well now I know this place is gonna be in great hands. But then are you going to be the editor of Den of Geek, Micro Mart, CustomPC, Bit-Tech and Bit-Gamer?!!! That's a lot of work but you got my full support.

As for James, I just know he's gonna go on to better things. Good luck.

Den of geek is the coolest website in the world!

 

I'm sorry to hear that anyone has to leave. I have thoroughly enjoyed the articles and reviews over the years. Good luck to everyone, those leaving as well as those switching to freelance.

Holidays aside, I also have noticed that the frequency of articles and newsbites had seemed to decline over the months. I have been disappointed by this, and as many others have already stated, I have found myself spending an increasing amount of time in the forums. That isn't a bad thing, but I really do hope that the amount of articles will increase (without diminished quality) in the near future.

I plan on sticking around to see what happens. I hope that most of the forum members will also remain because the forums are a huge part of this site (perhaps it's best quality). I've learned so much over the years from reading posts of many very intelligent and well spoken posters. I have been a reader of this site and forums much longer than my Join Date indicates. It wasn't until 2008 that I created a forum account.

For now, I will remain optimistic that this change will be positive for the website and the community. No need to jump ship when it will take time for things to get sorted out.

 

They can pay contract workers, temps, interns etc. a lot less than full-time writers who have been around for years and expect upward mobility, benefits, etc.

I wish all the best for the bit-tech crew, even if sometimes I can be vocal about differences of opinion. I cannot say the same for Dennis Publishing, who until proven otherwise have given me reason to leave this site and never return.

 

*sad face*

Good luck guys (and see you on twitter!), and good luck to Dennis keeping more than 50% of the current readers... Looks like I'll just be using Tom's from now on.

 

I am scared how accurate marketing can be sometimes. Most of the current 'users' still want 'more of the same'.That's why a survey can't capture the innovation trend. I like the change though. However I will miss the podcast a LOT if its dissmissed. I suggest: let go of the gaming podcast and assign the resources to the hardware one. I care more about it

 

Please don't reduce the space given over to F@H each month.

 

Saw the title and thought it was just a reshuffle around a bit, not the whole team being put out to pasture, and Freelancers being brought in ?
Wish you all the best of luck on your new adventures into the ultraworld
Live long and Prosper

 

Thanks for all the good work James and the team, I have held back reenewing my subscription until I see whats happenning.
best of luck to all

 

What's with all the negative posts! Jeez give them a chance before you make your minds up!!

Sometimes words just fail me.....