Bits Bit-tech survey results

Very good, if it wasnt for the fact that I got that stupid eBay ad when I was reading it

 

Dammit, I hate when I miss surveys and questionnaires about things like this!

 

**** yeah, Picard wins.

Only question I was interested in hearing about.

 

damn brits XD

 

Kirk > Picard
That is all.

 

I have also never clicked on an advert, why would I?!

 

In regards to the results of, "Who does bit-tech compete with?" I think you need to be a bit more analytical than, "Oh boy, we're in league with Anand and Tom's!" The results should be read as, "We're being compared to these sites, and our future success or failure is probably contingent on being more legible yet as varied as Tom's Hardware in content, yet we have to be as analytical as AnandTech." Combine that with the results of "Bit-Tech's mix of content," and the message should ultimately read: "We need to step up our game on our articles, and we need to learn to manage what goes up where and when."

Articles like, "Do we need Blu-Ray drives?" read like a blog post disguised as a real article. Even if it were better-than-average in its prose and analysis, it probably should have been left as a page 2 opinion piece or a Saturday/Sunday magazine article and not your one-and-only article of the weekday. Same thing with non-tech interest pieces, such as, "Bit-Tech builds the Lego Super Star Destroyer." It might be interesting to some, but it's not your meat and potatoes and it irritates me to no end that this 'other content' gets top billing for a whole day on the main page where a software or a hardware review should be. It's like going to a news website and finding, "Chaz Bono trips, scrapes knee on sidewalk," as the main headline when you know there has to be something more important going on in the world than what you're being presented. There's no shortage of new tech being released at any given time (heck, Gigabyte releases 15 new motherboards per chipset), and new software is constantly being released. How is it that you can't find something more relevant to review and write up than, "Is the XBox 720 going to kill of second-hand gaming?"

If you're going to keep the interest pieces, don't let them get in the way of your expected content.

 

Not entirely sure why Bit Tech think Toms Hardware competes with them, they have like twice your traffic lol.

Still though good stuff.

 

Interesting survey and well laid out. I can't believe only 1000 peeps completed it (curse George and Barnaby ). Disagree with niles in that us geeks now again like articles about board games and Lego Star Destroyers.
LMAO about final question ; Why do you think the Borg only thought Picard worth assimilating?? lol.

 

Over 30, female. I own my own business and pay my own way thank you very much.

 

Hmmm, was on holiday for a few weeks, missed the survey

Correct...ads just don't work, I ignore them.
(When surfing on the phone though I sometimes hit one by mistake while scrolling though)

That's what I do actually, as I often use computers that are not mine. I've given up on sorting and sharing bookmarks.

I'm afraid I have to agree.
Do stick with the motherboard-example, how to know which one to buy if only one of the series is tested?
There were a few X79 boards tested lately. Thanks for that.
But ONLY X79. I thought Socket 1155 outsold socket 2011 for consumers?

 

For everyone moaning and railing against the adverts, it may be worth remembering that the advertisers help pay towards running this website and keeping it all working. Without advertising money there probably wouldn't even be a website - or at least it would be reduced from its current form. Adverts = money = ability to function. I don't see why people treat them like some great evil, when actually they perform an important service.

Clicking on an advert is is an invitation to spend money, it isn't an obligation....

 

I don't treat them as evil, I just don't USE them.

A lot of that may have to do with the Ad's not beeing targeted enough.
For instance: While reading the GTX680 article, the ads try to interest me in a weird white case, and a mobile contract, and "by google" also meeting girls, Intel prebuilt desktops, hotmail and peltier-coolers.
Targeted advertising would say: hey, buy your GTX680 with us Here-and-NOW!

Instea I have "vibrant" ads in the text, that as soon as I incidentally mouse-over them, open an ad that prevents me from doing what I'm doing (reading the article).
That is active bad karma gathering right there.

 

A breakdown on site age would have been interesting...
Perhaps would have helped explain the Kirk v Picard 'fix' - old generation v new gen?

 

I'd "make it so" for Picard over Kirk any day.

 

I don't see anybody in this thread complaining about the adverts...my point was simply that the survey didn't offer a full range of choices and should have included "I don't click them" so that incorrect conclusions weren't drawn from the results.

Since you've just invited the debate, however, I would say that I hardly think you can begrudge people griping about ads after being shafted by the hideous full-screen ebay ad debacle.

Plus, there's ads, and then there's "sponsored by AOL jobs" or, worse, that Huffington Post nonsense. Plenty of other sites exist using advertising alone and don't spam their loyal user-base with that sort of advertising.

 

People can gripe about whatever they like, I'd never try and take that privilege away from anyone - God knows I enjoy using it enough myself!

I think some people were complaining though, ('railing' was probably too strong a word, 'griping' was a better choice). I was really just making the counter-point that ads largely pay for the existence of the free web, including this site. If all advertisers read is how everyone on a particular site hates them and never even look at their adverts, it hardly makes a compelling case for them to continue spending their money there does it? Lower add revenue = lower production budget = lower quality site.

I wasn't trying to say it's perfect or advertisers never get it wrong, just that it's a 'necessary evil'. Which, personally, I don't find all that evil anyway.

(Whisper it, but I even like some of them)

 

Interesting results. I like bt apart from the bloody aol articles plastered all over the main page, poorly disguised as BT articles. They make me rage.


Picard. Picard. Picard. Picard. Picard. Picard. Picard.

 

I've been a big fan of Bit-Tech for many, many years but of late the site has really taken a downward turn, the lack of news bugged me for a while so I stopped visiting so often but to come back and find a load of junk sponsored ads just doesn't work for me.

I really miss the podcasts, they were a bit infrequent on both gaming and hardware but seem to have died entirely since the changes which is a real shame as I think they set the site apart and, sad as it sounds, that we got to know the guys and it made reading the features and articles much more interesting.

Personally there just seems to be a lot less content these days which is a shame, I cancelled my sub to Custom PC partly for this but also due to the lack of in depth reviews, some big releases get a real detailed going over which is geek heaven for folks like me but half the reviews are pittance page or half page affairs with next to no detail. For me BT used to be a one stop shop but now ranks far behind the quality of Anandtech.

I would like to thank the team for years of brilliant content and wish you all the very best for the future.

Dean

 

I think it's a shame the hardware buyers guide hasn't been updated in the last half year...
And yes, a lot of hardwsre has been released.