This comment is way too verbose. First two paragraphs summarize my feelings and the rest is honestly for the site author's consideration as to the experience of a complete stranger to their site. I wish them the best.I was actually moved by the author's plight. Their current situation seems very helpless and I truly respect the effort to swim upstream with a principled approach to delivering a service in a market that is rife with shenanigans. I personally tend to get sucked into analysis paralysis when purchasing new products and any quality signal I can get outside of what is placed in front of me is extremely valuable. Probably to amplify the author's point, I can't say I've ever heard of his site and it's not recognizable to me. One of my favorites for quite some time, Wirecutter, has lost all of my faith after a few buys based on their findings wound up being garbage.
I say all of that to try to underscore the fact that I'm only trying to be productive, but without this backstory and the author's attestation to everything they do to maintain integrity, I wouldn't find this site remarkable or memorable or compelling in any way. I appreciate the design, it's clean and fast, but in reviewing several of the product areas that I've actually been looking at recently I can't find anything compelling in the content that the site brings to the table. To be blunt, it's not obvious to me what the author does with their time if this is their bread and butter.
One example. A few months ago I decided I wanted to upgrade the microphone I use for videoconferencing. I wanted something that was fairly directional as I didn't want to have the microphone in the view of the camera and I was hoping for a relatively flat frequency response. I was also on the bubble about going with a USB microphone vs getting an XLR mic and USB audio interface, and comparing them by pivoting on that feature was useful to me.
Here is the list of Good Cheap and Fast streaming microphones (which seems relevant) on goodcheapandfast.com: https://www.goodcheapandfast.com/articles/best-streaming-mic...
Let's assume I get to that URL from a Google search result and this is my first an only impression. Right off the drop I notice a few things (i'm on a PC):
- Design is spartan and the site loads quickly. I can't actually tell that there are no ads b/c my ad blocking game is on point.
- There isn't an obvious brand, the site logo is understated and loses the battle with the headline for any attention.
- My eyes instead fall to the blue badge on the right 'Real Customer Reviews & Ratings [VERIFIED]'. This primes my expectation that I'm going to be seeing some verified reviews.
Maybe this is just me, but I don't start by reading the text. I start scanning down the page
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Omnidirectional I see this, see Cardioid is next and realize it's just a mini tutorial on pickup patterns, not going to read it.
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Dynamic v Condenser more tutorial stuff (let's be honest, in my head i'm thinking more copy/paste)
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How much does a good...cost. Not really interested in reading a paragraph on this...i have no idea what it says.
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Pyle USB PC Recording Condenser Microphone (PDMIUSB50)
Pyle? Interesting pick for the top of the list. Solid value brand in amplifiers but not really known for anything in recording...but maybe they have a sleeper in this microphone, let's see those 'verified reviews'
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Fifine K669B USB Metal Condenser Recording Microphone
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What? The next microphone already? This is where I stop scrolling. My eyes turn up and I see the entirety of the assessment of the Pyle microphone
Good Value: $56 | Great Deal: $50
Check Current Price on Amazon | Check Current Price on Walmart
Pyle's plug-and-play USB microphone is durable, sensitive and clear,
according to several online customers. Some reviewers warn that the mute
button makes an audible pop; others wish the stand was more durable.
In my mind i hear 'what the hell?' Where are the verified reviews? Where is the detail? All I see is an unsupported price range of good and great deal, affiliate links and a throwaway blurb that indicates they read a few reviews.
OK, I click around a bit looking for a more detailed review of this product. Nothing. I grab the scroll bar and drag up and down the page, more of the same.
And then I leave. Sorry.
Again, I really empathize with the authors situation and respect their philosophy, but without some reason to really really drill into what is being presented the site is a non-starter.