In some of the most surprising news the industry has seen in a long time, DPReview, one of the oldest and most respected photography publications on the web, is shutting down in less than a month. .
The news came earlier today, with the website relaying that the decision was made by its parent company, Amazon, as part of a larger team. thousands of layoffs. The site will remain active until April 10, after which all new content will be shut down and forums will be locked, with the site remaining read-only for a “limited time”. Readers can request a copy of their data until April 6.
Incredibly surprising news, as DPReview is one of the oldest and most respected photography publications on the web. Started in 1998, it has basically existed throughout the digital photography era. It was acquired by Amazon in 2007, but oddly enough, Amazon seems to have never integrated the website much into its main platform, which can be a double-edged sword as it allows DPReview to continue to offer comprehensive and objective content it was known for, but could have made it less integrated in the parent company’s plans.
It’s especially sad that over 25 years the site has built up an absolutely incredible library of data and articles, all of which are predicted to disappear forever from the site in a short while, this would be a great loss of knowledge. Even more sad is the passing of DPReview staff, who have the most extensive, thorough and kind knowledge in the industry. We certainly hope they all succeed, as they all add enormous value to the industry we love.
