120 replies to this topic

[tifoso]

We've had a bunch of new members in the last few weeks so I thought I'd ask 2 questions:

1. How did you find out about AtlasF1?
2. Do you subscribe or just visit the forums?

I ask the last only because when AtlasF1 announced the subscription format, many predicted it was the end of the forum. It doesn't seem to be the case.

I'll start:

1. From my father, who lurks here as oldfan
2. I subscribe

[Nairn]

1 I found out from fellow members on another board (www.GaleForceF1.com)

[indysteve]

1. When I first got interested in following F1, I did a search on Excite looking for F1 web sites. Atlas F1 was the first one that came up.
2. I subscribe.

[KinetiK]

I used to go to ITV-F1.com (yes, that's right... oh the horrors!) but when I needed to find out news that wasn't bullshit or news that was older than 3 weeks I had to do a google search. Everytime I got an Atlasf1.com url so eventually I decided to visit the source of this nonstop stream.

Bada Bing. I registered on the boards but it was a long time before I could get the nerve up to post here. What, with JayWay on one side and Todd/Smooth on the other it was pretty dangerous in here!

[Goofy]

From a good friend of mine some years ago...

I subscribed...

And promote the site to anybody who asks me what's all the passion for F1 all about

[NYR2119935]

www.7thgear.com

www.seventhgear.com

[slick1jayj]

When I first came here it was from a search engine. I got tired of the speedvision boards being down. I joined the club the day before it became a pay site. At first I didn't want to pay...the old why pay when I could get it for free thing. I got to posting and liked the people here. (Frans too) The main reason that I started paying was, one night I had a question, and as soon as I refreshed the page Bira had a reply. With that kind of customer sevice, I was more than happy to pay my $36.00 dollars to support the site. It is well worth the money. If you notice, AtlasF1 usually has the news before most of the other sites. It is one top notch site. :up:
If people ask me for a good site, I tell them ATLASF1.

jay

[FNG]

I was reading the ITV-F1 forum and couldn't believe the crap that was written on there so I asked someone on there if there was a real F1 site, and was told about Atlas. I don't think they liked the way I titled my post " Any real F1 forums out there" That's what I posted on the ITV forum....never been back since!

[arcwulf7]

In 1997 i was doing a computer coirse, that i finally decided not to pursue as a career option -- and found a kindred spirit who loved road racing and f1. He recommended Atlasf1 as a sharp place to get info, practice times, Qualifying results which we weren't, in Canada, getting consistently at the time. I joined the BB about 3 years later and i'm still here. Can't get the the qt's anymore though.;)

[Alien]

i got here somehow, can´t really remember, but i just visit the forums, i don´t subscribe, but maybe in the future i will....

[dgsg]

1. search engine about 2 years ago.
2. Not with my money.

[MattPete]

Hmmm...it must have been 1996 (97 at the latest) that stumbled across from another F1 site. After a few weeks, I was hooked.

Yes, I subscribe.

[orange]

Search on google.
Actually I didn't notice that forum existed intially ...
so af1 was not my fav f1 site as I found browing new headlines harder...

But then I found this wonderful forum and for some time had the oppurtunity to read great af1 articles ( b4 they made it pay-per-view:p )

AtlasF1 =

[msarmiento]

1.From a friend that lives in London
2.I subscribe

[RJL]

Originally posted by MattPete
Hmmm...it must have been 1996 (97 at the latest) that stumbled across from another F1 site. After a few weeks, I was hooked.

Yes, I subscribe.

Same

[se7en_24]

1. Hmmm 1995 I think, I was a Johnny Herbert fan and he was at Bennetton so it must have been, I remember hearing about this place from r.a.s.f1.

2. I don't subscribe at the moment - sorry!

[paulb]

It was probably through GaleForce.

Got hooked on daily news and race reports. Then found Forums.

I have about a two month doghouse period before I can see about subscribing..

[MN]

1) From our company's non-work related note conferense which hosted somewhere in UK.

2) No subscribe (yet).

[leegle]

A friend wanted me to look at something and emailed me the address. I joined about three months later and I don't subscribe.

[Punisher6]

1. Search engine last year, I to this day cannot recommend a better site! I have learned a whole lot from articles and this forum.

2. Yes I subscribe, but like an idiot I only let go of $15 at a time, it SEEMS cheaper that way!

[Bex37]

1) In 1996 I used a search engine. Probably Altavista.

2) Subscribed a week or two ago. I spent a few months being pretty pissed off at the method in which Atlas became a pay site. During that time, I was getting news from DailyF1. Its definitely true that you miss a lot of news and views if you don't have access to AtlasF1.

Notwithstanding, I would not recommend AtlasF1 subscription to a friend at the moment. I find it hard to trust AtlasF1 after the instant "pay up or get out" attitude when subscription started. This was after 5 years of visiting for free and not even one day of warning! I'm slowly getting over it and I may one day learn to love again.

[skylark68]

I had stopped using this site last year and was clearing out old bookmarks from my browser - I linked again, liked what I saw and bought the goods. I had a pile of F1 sites over the years and don't exactly remember how I stumbled on it - in those days, I usually just used YAHOO search.

Good site.

[Don Capps]

I stumbled on Atlas F1 sometime in late 1995 or early 1996; did an article in 1997 I guess and been around pretty much ever since in some guise or capacity; and I remember well the closing down of the forum when Paul got very perturbed.... ...and The Great Crash...

...and I work here.

[armchair expert]

In 1996, I discovered computers and the internet (and all the wonderful timewasting things to see and do that it contains). Being on a ship and continually away from home, I was an avid user seeking info from Australian newspapers and F1. Atlas was recommended by an American friend and I have been a daily visitor since. Although a regular reader of the BB, I rarely contribute, preferring to snigger in a self-righteous manner at the frothing and occasionally petty arguments.
I subscribed about 3 nanoseconds after I couldn't open the news page.

[theMot]

Ive been here a loooonnnnnnngggggggg time. First came across it in i think it was the off season before Melbourne 96? I found it via an add on cd i had for Grand Prix 2. Had a link to this site and ive been around ever since basically. Didnt start actually posting on the board till mid way through 1999.

and yes, i pay to play ;)

[bob_gilliland]

1) I found the site several years ago, believe it was 99. I lurked in the forums until recently when I decided that I wanted to join in on the fun. I have often been quite intimidated by the incredible knowledge that 99% of the regulars have shown in their posts. I think that has kept me from joining for so long.

2) I am not yet a subscriber. I plan to at some point, maybe next year. I seem to have too much on my plate at the moment and want to subscribe when I have a little more fun time on my hands.

[bira]

Interesting thread and comments

I found Atlas F1 when I joined the Internet, around the end of 1996. I was looking for information about whether Eurosport will carry F1 in 1997 and ran a search in Altavista. Atlas F1 came up in the results and I visited it. Later, I also "met" the people who were involved in doing it on a Formula One IRC chatroom and since I liked the idea of Atlas, I got a bit involved.

But only when Paul K. published his letter to the readers at the French GP issue of 1998 did I contact him and got heavily involved. Well, I suppose "heavily involved" is a bit of an understatement, but you get the drift ;)

As for the forums: immediately after I joined Paul, he wanted to add a Bulletin Board to the website. I told him I don't want anything to do with that *thing* -- sounded like a lot of trouble and headaches to me, and boy was I right!

So for over 6 months the forums were running without me visiting them even *once*! Then, I got flooded with "Help!" e-mails complaining about a certain 3-letter poster who shall remain unnamed, and since I had no clue what these e-mails were all about, I figured it's time to pay the forums a visit and get involved. I've been ruing the day since - does this thing suck you in or what.

As for subscriptions: while the move took me completely by surprise, I am the second person to have bought a subscription. Paul Kaizar insisted on being the first. He was shocked too, by the way ;)

[Lipp]

I found Atlas through Forix

I subscribed after a short moment of contemplation:cool:

[Peterson]

As for subscriptions: while the move took me completely by surprise, I am the second person to have bought a subscription. Paul Kaizar insisted on being the first. He was shocked too, by the way

If the Atlas employees (is that the right word) didn´t know about this. How many people did actually know about it beforehand?

It must have been a hard decision about how to go public about it, but from a marketing and business view i think it was the right way to do it.

Fredrik

[Frans]

I didn't find Atlasf1, Atlasf1 found me.....

[ffiloseta]

I agree with FRANS, I was found. Now I am a subscriber.

[Breadmaster]

I discovered atlasf1 in about 1996 after I left uni and have always kept in touch...until it became pay-per-view. I do not subscribe you see....but since then I have used the forums heavily - weird.

and here's a question for those who do subscribe....is it worth it and what extras have they added since subsciption happened?

cheers!

[Hotwheels]

I have been following F1 since 1994.

2 seasons ago the TV channels went from free to air to pay - and as i am in the Middle East with Sundays as a working day , i turned to the net.....

To be honest i still follow the real time race commentry from another site but 3 months ago ( 4 weeks before it went to subsciptions) i stumbled across Atlas f1 and instantly knew this is the best site for the news - its really a sort of a F1 magazine and the quality / content of the interviews etc are really good.

But of course - Murphy's law come on - and this site was suddenly changed to a paid site -- as i do not own a credit card and Bira refuses to take personal cheques -- i cannot subscribe to it but still am on the BB.

So as we all know -- life's a bitch.....

[SennasCat]

I have been visiting since 1997, after a web search. I have been following F1 since 1976 (and Aussie touring cars since 1969 when I was 8). I have found it the best F1 site. I didn't even notice the forums until about 6 months ago (that was the end of my spare time!)

I was pissed and boycotted the site for about 3 days (was more pissed about the way it was handled than having to pay for it) but reneged and subscribed. I haven't regretted it.

[spretelt]

1. Seventhgear.com forums
2. Just for the BB (use to come for the first hand news but I have not decided to suscribe to it yet)

By the way, Excelent site. Among the best (if not the best)

[Marty]

1. Via a friend (I have been visiting since a year or so)
2. I have not yet subscribed.

[pUs]

1; Since the end of 1995, by searching on.. infoseek (?) I think.
2; I subscribe and write on the forum, although not very often nowadays.

[RV_Canada]

Found Atlas on Yahoo in '97 (go Jack go) with a buddy that I used to work with.

I subscribe.

[Bee]

1997 through Geocities. But I only read the news and articles.
I never joined the forum, as I was well-entrenched in another forum already.

[Marcel Schot]

For me, it must have been around december 1996, little more than a month before I got internet access. Instant Access released the Perfect Grand Prix 2 add-on, which featured downloaded websites of Atlas F1 and LFRS amongst others. When I connected to the web on 21 January 1997, those two were the first ones I visited. Like Bira, I met the makers of Atlas later on IRC (somewhere in May IIRC).

[Jumbo]

I stumbled upon Atlas about 2/3 years ago, and suddenly found I knew more about F1 than all my friends. I was really annoyed to have to pay initially, but after I had cooled down I realised that we really were being spoiled to get so much for free. Also I hadn't realised that Atlas pays for their contributers to go to the gp's.

I subscribe and haven't regretted it since.

Keep up the good work:drunk:

[Sean L]

1. I was on some other F1 site that had a link to AtlasF1. Since I clicked that link I probably haven't been back to the other site (can't remember which it was).

2. Can't afford it with our 8.3 to 1 exchange rate

[The Soul Stealer]

I got here via autosport.com and stayed here via visa.card

[TOLIN]

1. From a Friend. He is a freak in F1 (and now I am one too)

2.I have paid a yearly subscription. I hope it pays off!!!

[TOLIN]

Originally posted by Frans
I didn't find Atlasf1, Atlasf1 found me.....

FranZ:

The MASTER of tHE cAPS, DO NOT BELIEVE IT!!!
You sHALL pay to be allouD to PUT DOwn M.Sch.

PAY!!!!!!

[babbel]

I visited AtlasF1 for the first time in august 1996 when it was introduced to me on IRC by the people who made it at that time.

After that I never really left, my first article was on frontpage 2 years later in 1998 and after that bira-and-co wouldn't let me go anymore

[Andy]

It was either '95 or '96, when I first got Internet service, one of the first things I looked up on a search engine was "F1 racing" and it brought me to AtlasF1.com. For me I never looked back and never looked elsewhere as I didn't feel the need to. AtlasF1 always had all the info, and more, that I was looking for on F1.

I remember before we had an actual BB here, as we now know it (i.e.: BB can also mean Before Bira!!;) ) when there was this section to the site called "Readers Comments". Anyone could e-mail in there comments, a story, whatever and if selected it would be posted up and people could send their comments in on what you had written. It was very basic but a lot of fun just the same.

I have to admit, when the "new style" BB started up it took me quite a while (almost 2 years?!) to finally break-down and check out this part of AtlasF1 as I really didn't see it as something I would be into. Obviously I was very wrong on that as a year and a half after first joining the BB I was asked to Moderate the RC forum! And that lasted until little AndyJr. arrived this past Feb and completely turned my life upside-down!!

Yes I'm a subscriber and I recommend this site to everyone I meet!!;)

[Slick]

I started here about 3-4 years ago now, only reading the news.

Then I stummbled across free internet access and tried out the chat room, Sally sunk her teath into me and I haven't been able to get away since.

Becoming a BB member follow shortly afterwards in March 2000 and now I spend most of my evenings chatting to people in the PC and the Chat room

[Alapan]

Found this site around '97 when I got access to the internet. It is still my favourite F1 site - but the Rand - Dollar exchange rate (I live in South Africa) makes even 36 dollars quite expensive so I don't subscribe.

[Rob29]

Found Atlas via a link from the American Racing History site. Atlas is the best I have found for the sort of thing I am interested in.
Yes I subscribe. I guess its worth it to keep it going even if I only use the free parts.