Today, we were going to have a cool hardware review, but something we knew was coming, actually happened, and it feels like we need to make a last minute change. Future Plc has ended Anandtech after 27 years. Head over there to read the last new post by Ryan Smith.
Farewell to AnandTech After Over 27 Years
For those who have only been into computer hardware for the past handful of years, AnandTech was the place to go for in-depth news. For those who do not know, I used to have a site that was almost the same size in 1997. Whereas Anand stayed with it until eventually selling and working at Apple, I went to school and had a managed consulting career before getting back into it. At one point, I ghost-wrote a piece for Anand in exchange for a Tyan Pentium II/ Pentium Pro motherboard back in the late 90s when we were both in high school.
Even though STH focuses more on data center gear like getting Inside a Marvell Teralynx 10 51.2T 64-port 800GbE switches, looking at Intel Xeon 6 6700E CPUs, and buying 1347 used data center SSDs, STH has been larger than AnandTech for many years. That is tough. Large sites like Tom’s Hardware have gotten investment by Future, but it is hard to be a small consumer site in today’s publishing environment.
For those who do not know, Dr. Ian Cutress (formerly AnandTech) introduced Virginia Lee to me many years ago. Virginia effectively handles all of the ad sales on STH, as I wanted to get rid of ever-increasingly intrusive ads. If you are on the desktop STH site, almost every ad at this point is served from this inventory, and I have made rules that I only want static banners. Virginia used to be AnandTech’s ad salesperson many years ago. She was also the one who sat me down and said I needed to be the face of STH like Anand was for AT.
I sent some feelers about buying AnandTech several quarters ago, but I ran into the same challenge that I ran into when I was offered PCPer for effectively nothing after Ryan left. At some point, the property was so much smaller that spending $1000 on STH content went further than on smaller properties. That is similar to what Future has gone through when investing in Toms or AT. For the record, the STH main site is not bigger than AT at its peak, but we are a low single-digit fraction of AT’s peak. Big in a small niche seems to work still. Small in a big (consumer) market is hard.
The publishing industry is rough and not getting easier. I am always wondering if the STH model of targeting one article a day is the right one. The pressure to get relatively huge views on every piece is a more arduous road to walk than just creating tons of content like everyone else. For us, it is also double the pressure with the YouTube side. We shall see.
Final Words
It feels strange to me. STH has only been around for 15 years, and I never imagined STH would outlast AT. Still, on August 30, 2024, we need to take a moment and pause to remember the incredible resource that AnandTech was in the industry for so long.
Thank you to all the folks at AnandTech for all you have done in the industry over the years. Sites like STH would not be what they are without AT.
Again, check out the farewell post that Ryan penned if you have not already.
this kind of feels like finding out a long lost friend has died. strange hollow feeling.
I started reading tech websites in the late 90s. Anandtech, Aceshardware, and Tomshardware were my go to spots to read tech news and reviews. Sadly Aceshardware went away quite a long time ago and now Anandtech is joining them. For over 20 years Anandtech was one of my near daily site visits.
Anandtech changed a lot after Anand Shrimpi left. And really was never the same again. The level is post and the frequency of posts changed so much. So to be honest I didn’t visit very often. In the 90 and 2000 Anand was my go-to place along with Tomshardware and HardOcp.
I think I remember reading that Tyan motherboard review back in 1997 or so? It was around the time in high school that I did my first custom PC build with a Pentium II. I couldn’t source a Tyan motherboard up here in Canada and had to go with a more pedestrian Asus P2L97. Those really were the days. The PC was in the spotlight back then as a growth sector. When AnandTech was founded, the dream was still a PC on every desktop. Now we have multiple computers on our person. I’d love to hear more about those early days and your part in it. That whole scene deserves documenting for historical purposes. There were so many hardware sites, often with forums that provided a real sense of community. I’ve seen each of those sites fade away. And while it’s true AnandTech hasn’t been AnandTech in quite some time, its official end is still a bitter pill to swallow and a reminder that the world is constantly changing. I’m glad that there are a handful of up-and-coming enthusiasts like yourself who seem to have started passion projects in the spirit of AnandTech and all those early sites. I hope they’re profitable passion projects and you all find a way to carve out your space in this niche.
That’s really too bad. I’m not a regular to AnandTech, but I can recall downloading a few of their chip photos off and on. I guess I should have made them a regular site to visit. Geez, the things you don’t know. I’m listening to Electron Odyssey’s song “The Way Forward” as I’m writing this. Not sure what that means exactly, coincidence or a deeper meaning, but I’m wishing the former staff of AnandTech all the best. Hopefully they’ll find their own places after this. Rest In Peace, AnandTech. You’ll never be forgotten. :-(
AT’s coverage of SSDs was great. His articles on the Intel X-25 and other early SSDs were unequalled.
Sadly, AT hasn’t been the same since Anand sold it and of late, I’ve only used it to compare hardware in its Bench database, which is sadly not as comprehensive as it once was.
I probably not visited that site more than a handful, and mainly because of a link from the main Dutch tech website.
Late 90’s I was mainly on Sharky Extreme and Overclockers.com (and it’s forum).
I did visit Tom’s Hardware a lot back then too, but it became a mess in the 2000’s or 2010’s.
Wow – they were my defacto news and review source for years back in the late 90s and early 2000s. I actually wrote an article for them once on the basics of building a PC.
From a business perspective, STH (ServeTheHome) covers a crucial niche—data center hardware. It is one of the few credible platforms that focuses on practical, relevant content rather than the typical marketing narratives from HP, Dell, or Lenovo etc that SPAM folder is full of.
Many of its readers are decision-makers involved in multi-million dollar deals, making marketing on this platform highly valuable for hardware companies. Hope that you will find your value for marketing that is placed here.
Meh.
Anandtech has effectively been dead since 2014 when Anand Lal Shimpi left for Apple and sold it to the same company that bought Toms Hardware.
They went from writing brilliant reviews (some of the best SSD reviews ever) prior to 2014, to just posting press releases and other bullshit after that.
It was about time it got put out of its misery.