As part of his latest cut of 9,000 people, Amazon will shut down DPReview, a site web trusted source of photography and packed with digital camera tests and opinions after almost 25 years online.
“After almost 25 years of operation, DPReview will be shutting down in the near future. This difficult decision is part of the annual operating plan review that our parent company shared earlier this year. The site will remain live until April 10, and the editorial team is still working on the reviews and hopes to deliver some of our best content,” they explain on the web.
It seems that Amazon has no plans to sell the site, but instead will close it completely. New content will be added until April 10, as they explain, but then it will be blocked and “available in read-only mode for a limited period afterward”, making it seem like the entire site could be removed afterward, wiping out an important and highly relevant part of your history.
Founded in 1998 as Digital Photography Review by Phil Askey, the site’s first review featured the 2MP Canon PowerShot Pro70. This website quickly became famous for its incredibly detailed multi-page reviews, which at their peak were read by tens of thousands of people.
Goodbye to DPReview: closes after 25 years of great digital camera reviews
DPReview has been under the mighty umbrella of Amazon for a long time as it he acquired the web in 2007. “DPReview is by far the most authoritative source anywhere to speak directly about the new digital cameras,” Bezos said in a press release at the time. “We at Amazon have been their fans for a long time.”
However, all of that seems to be in the past and more recently, the lack of real alignment with the broader business objectives of Amazon appears to have led to the demise of the site.
It all started with the removal of the editorial staff from the website of Photography which left DPReview shivering with only a few reviews on the page. Now, it will finally be shut down completely and it seems that Amazon has no plans to revive it and give it a second chance. According to DPReview’s “About Us” page, there are currently 11 staff members.
