 Read Rob’s message about maintaining hard-drive health (11/00) |
For some reason, the song “Trucking” by the Grateful Dead keeps popping into my head as I write this note for the Pitstop site. What a long, strange trip it’s been! The Internet revolution has gone from the new economy to a series of dot-bomb catastrophes. Many terrific Web sites have come and gone, and PC Pitstop is still thriving. Wall Street invested in many crazy Internet schemes and waggled about first-mover advantages. They were so wrong. It’s really the last man standing that wins this game. The same can be said for virtually any business.
Now Elton John is in my head. “I’m still standing….Better than I’ve ever been…Lookin’ like a true survivor…Feelin’ like a little kid.” We’re feeling great at PC Pitstop. Since our humble beginnings in March 2000, we’ve analyzed more than a million PCs. That’s significant and something of which we are extremely proud.
But we’re in this game for the long haul. We’re not interested in the latest get-rich-quick IPO scheme or the latest buzzwords. We’re all about creating economic value and lasting relationships. Relationships with our loyal users–and relationships with other companies.
A Partnership with PC World
In this vein, I am so excited about two new relationships that will bring PC Pitstop to the next level. Starting Tuesday, July 3, you’ll notice that our site looks a little different. We hope you like it. We are in the process of partnering our site with PCWorld.com. After months of discussion, I am very excited about the possibilities.
| Preview the new design: Home page (click to enlarge) 
Test Results Summary(click to enlarge) |
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The people at PCWorld.com know a lot about PCs, and this is just the first step. Over time, you will be able to read PC World articles targeted to your PC and get specific advice on particular problems with your PC from PC World experts.
In the immediate future, PC World will be contributing to the site design as well as
providing links throughout PC Pitstop to relevant articles and sections on PCWorld.com. PC World is also now selling most of the online advertising for PC Pitstop (ads will be served via DoubleClick). We’ll post an updated privacy policy on Tuesday as well, detailing the changes in the advertising policy, so be sure to check it out.
Otherwise, PC Pitstop will continue to run shop like it always has. Our tests and diagnostics will be exactly the same–as will the strict guidelines protecting your privacy. Nothing’s changing on that front, we assure you (see our privacy policy). And of course, all of the services you’ve grown to trust and love will still be 100% free-of-charge.
Today, before writing this piece, I was browsing the user forum to get a feeling for the needs of our users. There are so many awesome suggestions and comments. Thank you, everyone. Up to this point, however, PC Pitstop has been focused on technology to analyze PCs, and less on writing specific content and advice. I believe this alliance will make a truly tremendous experience for our users. And please, as always, give us your feedback.
On the Horizon: PC Doctor
And now for the big news. We are also in joint development with PC Doctor. PC Doctor is the worldwide leader in PC diagnostics. The development project will Web-enable many of their common diagnostics. Keep your eyes peeled, because we will be adding more and more functionality to the site as this project comes to fruition.
So we’re just trucking along. It’s all about building relationships for the long run. I think we’re well on our way, but this long, strange trip is hardly over…
Rob Cheng
CEO PC Pitstop LLC
