New York Times’ Wirecutter Product-Review Site Moves Behind Paywall | Hacker News Reader

New York Times’ Wirecutter Product-Review Site Moves Behind Paywall

wsj.com

27 pointsMBCook10 comments

So they’ve killed the wirecutter. What’s the new alternative?

For video and audio gear, https://www.rtings.com/

For lots of stuff, Consumer Reports. Online access to CR is included with many US library systems. For example, all Seattle Public Library cardholders have full access to CR’s site: https://www.spl.org/online-resources/a-z-online-resources?al...

TBH,I rather have a paid consumer review site than a free one. A free one is not trustworthy by definition, they'll be looking to make money off sponsorships and advertising, which IMO is directly at odds with the service being provided.

How unfortunate. They’re usually the first resource I go to for research when buying new products

Wirecutter is hit or miss; consumer reports is a more reliable, less biased source.

I laughed at the Wirecutter when they did a review of white sneakers about a month ago. They immediately dismissed Vans shoes, calling them "uncomfortable," and went on to select Converse as the top pick. Vans may not be the best sneakers out there, but they consistently get 4.9/5 stars in customer reviews from places like Zappos and Nordstrom, and they're reasonably priced. Maybe Converse are better shoes, but in my mind, Vans and Converse are pretty similar. The tone of their "research" was honestly kind of bizarre.

>How unfortunate. They’re usually the first resource I go to for research when buying new products

They aren't shutting it down.

> At launch, readers will get 10 free Wirecutter articles a month before being asked to pay for a subscription. Only a small proportion of Wirecutter’s readership currently reads more than 10 articles a month, said Linda Li, Wirecutter’s general manager. A small percentage of users visit the site more than 50 times a month.

10 articles feels like a pretty lax paywall, especially for something like Wirecutter articles. Anecdotal, but when I go there, I home in on exactly one article, which by its nature is an exhaustive roundup of many products, to do my research on something I’m considering buying. I can’t fathom needing 11 of these per month.

So I guess I officially don't use any New York Times sites.

https://archive.is/zHbmv

Honestly, it has become a shill site anyway. I like RTings for displays. Otherwise, it's rough out there.

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