The time is coming for my final sign-off from Silent PC Review. It will happen at the end of August this year.
SPCR has been my primary work for nearly a decade. The quest for solutions to the challenges of defining, measuring, assessing and eliminating computer noise led to a surprisingly wide range of adventures that kept me engaged, inspired and learning for years. In the process, I had the good fortune of making many lasting friends all over the world, in person and via the web.
But everything comes and goes. The circumstances that made Silent PC Review a viable project for me in 2002 no longer hold sway, though I will certainly miss many aspects of it.
Late last year, I began to entertain the idea of selling the site to operators of other tech web sites. The central question that arose in discussion with prospective buyers was, "What is SPCR without Mike Chin?" It is our own server hosted at Vancouver's Peer 1 hosting center, a domain name, a hard-earned reputation for high editorial and technical review standards, a large group of dedicated visitors and forum members, a collection of unique measurement tools, and a treasure trove of information, knowhow, and data on every aspect of acoustics in computers, and on every type of component that goes into a PC. It's true that the site has been "my baby" all along, but there is no question that others with the requisite skills and knowledge can muster up the focus and drive to keep SPCR's leadership in computer-related acoustics.
To date, no successful deal for transition to a new operator has been made, however, so unless things change in the next three months, after my final signoff, SPCR will be no more. This is a sad prospect, considering what a useful resource SPCR has been and continues to be -- I still receive several "I love SPCR, please keep up the good work!" emails every week.
I remain open to suggestions in order to keep the site active and moving forward. Purchase, licensing or other serious proposals will be entertained through 31 July. Contact me, mikec at silentpcreview dot com.
EDIT: 22 June 2011
Since this announcement was first made, a heartwarming outpouring of support for SPCR has caused several changes in my exit strategy:
1. SPCR will definitely stay alive. I will likely remain involved on some level. (At the very least, the main SPCR site will be archived/frozen and the forums kept open -- other tech web operators have offered no/low-cost hosting for this purpose.)
2. A secondary, fully equipped acoustics lab will be created, with staff to operate it at the same high standards we've always maintained. A call for a place and people interested in creating and running this secondary lab was made on 16/01 (the last post on this page), and it has resulted in only a single response. We are in discussion right now, but it would be really nice to see more responses. Ideally, two fully equipped acoustics labs would insure the future of SPCR for a much longer time.
I will keep the community informed of developments as they unfold. Thank you all again for your support.
_________________ Mike Chin, SPCR Editor/Publisher Support SPCR by buying your gear through this link: Amazon
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