Image: © manusapon/Stock.adobe.com
The website has been a well-known database for information about digital cameras for years, but is being shut down amid Amazon’s recent waves of job cuts.
DPReview, a review site focused on digital photography, is shutting down after nearly 25 years due to Amazon’s current cost-cutting measures.
The website has confirmed that it will become locked on 10 April, with no further updates after this date. DPReview said it will be available in “read-only mode” for a limited period of time after this date.
“The editorial team is still working on reviews and looking forward to delivering some of our best-ever content,” DPReview said in a blog post. “Everyone on our staff was a reader and fan of DPReview before working here, and we’re grateful for the communities that formed around the site.”
The website launched in 1998 as a hobby site, focusing on news and reviews about digital photography gear and has become a well-known database for consumer digital cameras.
DPReview was acquired by Amazon in 2007, by which time the site claimed it had more than 7m unique visitors each month. The site’s founder, Phil Askey, said the acquisition allowed him to spend more time in expanding and improving its features.
But the site is being shut down due to Amazon’s recent measures to help pursue “long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure”. The tech giant said in January that more than 18,000 jobs would be cut as part of these measures.
This week, the company revealed an additional 9,000 jobs would be eliminated, in an attempt to make Amazon “more streamlined in our costs and headcount” during an uncertain economy.
DPReview said users can request downloads of any photos and text they have uploaded to the site. This offer is available until 6 April, after which time they “will not be able to complete the request”.
It is unclear what will happen to the nearly 25 years of content once the site is taken down from its read-only mode.
10 things you need to know direct to your inbox every weekday. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of essential sci-tech news.
