This is a list of the best, or my favorite at least, websites of 2014.
- Tools and Toys: since Shawn rebooted the site it has been stellar. The photography, guides, and consistent schedule of posts make it one of my favorite sites of the year. In particular, the guides are fantastic and the reviews are the best at showing items in use. (Yes I did write for it, but even if I hadn’t it would still top the list.)
- The Newsprint: I’ve long held Josh’s site in high regard, as he does a stellar job with his long form posts. When this guy reviews something — watch out. He’s one of the best gear photographers I’ve seen. (I’m sure a great photographer at other things too.)
- Canopy.co: I found this when they released a new iOS app. It’s a collection of really cool stuff you can buy on Amazon. When you sign up you can save a list of items you liked as well making it a great bookmarking tool. I love it as a place to find all sorts of neat stuff I can easily buy.
- Massdrop: those that follow me on Twitter know of my love for this group buying site. The community recommends and votes on things they want to buy and Massdrop makes it happen. It’s heaven for keyboard nerds, and really stellar shipping speed.
- DuckDuckGo: it just keeps getting better, and really excels now that it is baked into iOS.
My general impression of these sites is that they play by a similar set of rules:
- They don’t participate in the rat race of pageviews I’m a way that compromises the quality of the site.
- They are fun to use and/or read.
- They are visually compelling.
- Their content is really stripped down to what matters, with little fluff.
- They aren’t echo chambers of bullshit.
So there you have it, the best sites of 2014.
(Note: don’t expect this to be a yearly list. I’ll forget about it come next year.)