365 Days and Over 300 Audio News Items Later . . .

Over three quarters of a million readers served! With several million "page views" and dozens of millions of "hits" in the past 365 days, the Stereophile website has continued to grow steadily, with a record number of folks visiting practically every week. We've also dished out over 300 news articles---practically an article each day---covering everything audio, from important new-technology announcements to the demise and then rebirth of several legendary brands.

One of the most popular features of the website has been the weekly Vote! question. With over 50 topics covered thus far, the Vote! archives are a treasure trove for anyone interested in how an audiophile's mind works. While the Vote! results can be considered only an informal survey of an already impassioned audience, the strings of comments offer more than just a quick ranking. Think of it as free market research available to anyone with an entrepreneurial bent.

A regular group of audio pundits have been airing their thoughts each week on the Soapbox page, where opinions are fleshed out in point/counterpoint form. Judging by the site logs, other popular pages include the Events listings and Links 2 Die 4 pages.

A Present or Two for the Readers
But what would a birthday be without some presents? After reading all of your comments from the multitude of e-mails we get each week, the most common request---by far---was for access to articles from past issues of Stereophile. Editor John Atkinson has been thumbing through his well-worn back issues of the magazine, and began picking out features that have stood the test of time and will be of interest to today's audio enthusiast. The first batch of these articles can now be found on the Archives page, where you'll find free access and a searchable database. More articles will be added once or twice a week, and in the near future, we will also begin publishing selected past equipment reviews.

And keep your eyes on the Links page, where we'll be adding the Internet's most comprehensive database of audio-related web-links in the coming weeks. We've also been collecting comments and photos from readers about their systems and the lessons learned while building them, which will be presented soon.

In closing this little party, we'd like to thank everyone who has visited the site, left a few comments, and sent in their likes and dislikes. Thanks also to: Barry Willis, our intrepid reporter who always gets the scoop; Jim Heintz, who has helped develop the custom programming that has kept the site running; and to Richard Lehnert, our online copy editor, who keeps a sharp eye out for typos and goofy sentences.

But we know what you're really thinking: Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, you look like web monkeys, and you type like them too . . .

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