Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Foxpop PDA Site Closes Down
Posted by Jonathon Watkins in "THOUGHT" @ 05:00 PM
Sad news, that PDA site Foxpop has closed due to continued health problems and a massive workload. As part of their farewell posts, their Palm Editor discuss their startup six years ago writing about the Psion in the early days of the Internet:
"In this environment Foxpop flourished as a loose grouping of individuals doing it for fun, spending their own money on ISPs, software, hardware etc., just because it was a hobby for them. We wanted to find out what was good and what was bad in the PDA world, and writing about it was a way of crystallizing our thoughts. It was a pleasure to receive an email which revealed that someone had read what we had written. Two things have changed which explain why Foxpop cannot go on any longer: the internet is now primarily a market place, and the number of users is so vast that there is continual pressure for more and more content. It has always been the style of Foxpop to produce detailed, often lengthy, often comparative reviews, which is painstaking work and receives little thanks (let alone financial support) from the companies whose products we write about 'warts and all'. Compare what we did with a site like PalmInfocenter, where one in three 'articles ' is just a cut and paste job on a press release (I know, I get the original press releases too). I could mention other popular websites where the content is as illiterate and shallow as a conversation in a bar; but that is exactly what is wanted, both by the commercial interests and the vast majority of readers. In an internet where sites like that are successful, Foxpop is unsustainable."
We wish the Foxpop team all the best in their new ventures. It's a shame when fellow PDA sites can't carry on any more. :| It sure is a busy, busy, demanding Internet out there. :? Is it primarily a market place as Foxpop say and is there a place for PDA sites that do try to go the extra mile? Thoughts?
"In this environment Foxpop flourished as a loose grouping of individuals doing it for fun, spending their own money on ISPs, software, hardware etc., just because it was a hobby for them. We wanted to find out what was good and what was bad in the PDA world, and writing about it was a way of crystallizing our thoughts. It was a pleasure to receive an email which revealed that someone had read what we had written. Two things have changed which explain why Foxpop cannot go on any longer: the internet is now primarily a market place, and the number of users is so vast that there is continual pressure for more and more content. It has always been the style of Foxpop to produce detailed, often lengthy, often comparative reviews, which is painstaking work and receives little thanks (let alone financial support) from the companies whose products we write about 'warts and all'. Compare what we did with a site like PalmInfocenter, where one in three 'articles ' is just a cut and paste job on a press release (I know, I get the original press releases too). I could mention other popular websites where the content is as illiterate and shallow as a conversation in a bar; but that is exactly what is wanted, both by the commercial interests and the vast majority of readers. In an internet where sites like that are successful, Foxpop is unsustainable."
We wish the Foxpop team all the best in their new ventures. It's a shame when fellow PDA sites can't carry on any more. :| It sure is a busy, busy, demanding Internet out there. :? Is it primarily a market place as Foxpop say and is there a place for PDA sites that do try to go the extra mile? Thoughts?
