UKC

Outdoors Magic used to be a good site, with a sense of communitynot unlike here.  They used to have a very deep dataset of user-submitted reviews that covered a wide range of outdoor equipment; and then they rebranded and if that dataset is still available, it's well hidden and one of the main draws for the site seems to have vanished.

Coming in the opposite direction, Trail and such have tried, reasonably successfully I think albeit in a smaller way, to generate an online community from their magazines.  Again, much of the use I make of that site is down to reviews about kit and they do have a good dataset available, even if it could be a little better organised (perhaps that's down to metadata?).  

So the owners of Outdoors Magic had something good, seem to have thrown it away and now are in trouble; Trail, with their Live for the Outdoors site, are building something reasonable around much the same thing Outdoors Magic discarded.

UKC/UKH?  Same as ever, and thank goodness for that.  Well done on resisting the offers of filthy lucre!  But the whole business seems to me to point out the commercial value of good data, and the importance of maintaining that; and that's something that UKC/UKH does very well.  Keep on with the good work guys.

T.

Another victim of private equity greed, sad as it always is when this happen. Good work in keeping UKC independent and a community platform. It makes me shiver just thinking what they were planning to do with it if they had bought it. 

They took over a windsurfing magazine and two associated websites that were all highly regarded and that I regularly used.  They had a thriving user community but slowly over time Factory got less interested and eventually pulled the plug.  The forum had masses of useful information that has now been lost forever.  Corporate greed.

Keep up the good work UKC.

Outdoors magic was an ad dump and a rubbish community, the news is no surprise.

It seemed a bit cliquey but was ok for a browse. More value destroyed.

Usenet, now forums, social media next...

Exhibit A: 8a.nu

Everything about the site is terrible. Appalling outdated design, weak editorial content, abysmal quality of discussion in the forums, lousy performance ... but the world's largest database of recorded sport climbing ascents & route commentary. The latter seems to be enough for it to survive despite all of the former.

UKC has nearly 1 million more ascents logged than 8a.nu.

Pedant. International, *sport* climbing etc etc.

Damn it, you got me. UKC's logs are only 40% Sport/Bouldering

I won't comment on your other points out of professional courtesy other than to say "HTML tables!? It's 2018!"