Ars Technica was founded in 1998 when Founder & Editor-in-Chief Ken Fisher announced his plans for starting a publication devoted to technology that would cater to what he called "alpha geeks": technologists and IT professionals. Ken's vision was to build a publication with a simple editorial mission: be "technically savvy, up-to-date, and more fun" than what was currently popular in the space. In the ensuing years, with formidable contributions by a unique editorial staff, Ars Technica became a trusted source for technology news, tech policy analysis, breakdowns of the latest scientific advancements, gadget reviews, software, hardware, and nearly everything else found in between layers of silicon.
Ars Technica innovates by listening to its core readership. Readers have come to demand devotedness to accuracy and integrity, flanked by a willingness to leave each day's meaningless, click-bait fodder by the wayside. The result is something unique: the unparalleled marriage of breadth and depth in technology journalism. By 2001, Ars Technica was regularly producing news reports, op-eds, and the like, but the company stood out from the competition by regularly providing long thought-pieces and in-depth explainers.
And thanks to its readership, Ars Technica also accomplished a number of industry leading moves. In 2001, Ars launched a digital subscription service when such things were non-existent for digital media. Ars was also the first IT publication to begin covering the resurgence of Apple, and the first to draw analytical and cultural ties between the world of high technology and gaming. Ars was also first to begin selling its long form content in digitally distributable forms, such as PDFs and eventually eBooks (again, starting in 2001).
The Ars editorial team didn't fret over journalistic innovation, however. Ars fused opinion, analysis, and straight-laced reporting into an editorial product long before commercial "blogs" arrived on the scene and claimed to reinvent journalism by doing the same. The company pushed the ideals of transparency and community before these were buzzwords. It is these ideals that have kept the company growing since its birth, and readers can expect more of the same in the future.
Ars Technica was founded in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Amongst those joining Ars Technica in its infancy was Jon Stokes, co-founder and renowned CPU Editor for Ars Technica's first 12 years (Jon served also as Deputy Editor from 2008-2011). Eric Bangeman, co-founder and Managing Editor, joined the site during its earliest years and remains in the thick of the Ars Technica newsroom.
Acquired in 2008 by Advance, the parent company of Conde Nast, Ars Technica has offices in Boston, New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. Today, Ars Technica operates as Conde Nast's only 100% digitally native editorial publication.
In May 2015, Ars Technica expanded to the UK, with an office in the heart of London. The new website, www.arstechnica.co.uk, and its dedicated editorial team, will focus on stories from the UK and Europe, consolidating Ars Technica's global remit of influential, impartial coverage of all things technology.
The Ars Technica Ethos
Ars longa, vita brevis, occasio praeceps, experimentum periculosum, iudicium difficile.
—Hippocrates
When Hippocrates said that "life is short, art is long," he did not mean that art outlives the artist. The "father of medicine" instead diagnosed a basic fact of life: true art or skill takes a lifetime of effort to perfect, and the path is fraught with "occasional crises, perilous experiences, and difficult judgments." Technology is the "art" at the forefront of our changing world, and we're here to chronicle that story and even help with the difficult judgments.
At Ars Technica—the name is Latin-derived for the "art of technology"—we specialize in news and reviews, analysis of technology trends, and expert advice on topics ranging from the most fundamental aspects of technology to the many ways technology is helping us discover our world. We work for the reader who not only needs to keep up on technology, but is passionate about it.
We at Ars take great pride in our unique combination of technical savvy and wide-ranging interest in the human arts and sciences. Our editorial team is at home on Linux, Mac, and Windows; they know both the home and the enterprise; they understand law and politics; and they specialize in bringing readers the right answer, the first time. It's no wonder that Ars has become a "go-to" destination for those who need to sift the wheat from the chaff.
Ars Technica is also unique in a number of ways. We are a proud leader in conversational media, a new and exciting answer to the reader's need and desire for fresh voices, informed reporting, and reader engagement. Ars writers aren't afraid of wit or strongly-held opinions, and readers find both on display throughout our work. But at Ars, "opinion" never devolves into dogma; we strive for measured judgments and carefully relayed contexts. Those who come to Ars looking for computing religion won't find it, and that's why millions of readers trust our take on the day's tech news and look forward to our original reporting.
Then there's our formidable community. While "community" has lately become a Web buzzword, Ars has been building a real online community since its founding in 1998. We encourage reader feedback and participation in conversation via discussion on every article, as well as in the renowned Ars OpenForum—one of the Internet's true treasure troves, and one of the largest, documented community databases of tips, technical help, and camaraderie on the planet.
It was once said that sine scientia ars nihil est, that is, "without knowledge, art is nothing." We agree, but there's also a corollary: sine Ars, scientia nihil est.
Welcome to Ars Technica!