I am reposting my previous and still current perspective of what Has Happened to LPF back in Jun 12, 2021,
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What Happened to LPF
Back when it all began the driver for LPF popularity, that daily drew thousands to the LPF forums, was the over night sensation of “powerful” hand held laser pointers becoming the discussion everywhere on the internet and in the news media.
It was the period where the time was ripe for the phenomenon of powerful multi color handheld laser pointers being made possible by the emerging technology of CD burners and laser projectors coupled with the keen ingenuity of the pioneers of harvesting and repurposing of laser diodes coinciding with the peaking popularity of the Star Wars movies where these early hand held laser pointers were immediately likened to Lightsabers being made available for anyone to own.
Several laser pointer forums sprang up, however it was Avery with his creative marketing insight and forum hosting website building talent that led to the success of LPF over and beyond the others. It was a bit rocky at first, but the word got out quickly, and so began the feverish pitched race for bigger better badass laser pointers by the rapidly growing LPF cult of collective collaboration among the influx of a great number of very knowledgeable, highly imaginative and talented individuals joining the LPF ranks as laser diode harvester's, electronic driver designer fabricators, and those early LED flashlight repurposing builders that put it all together into finished products ready for sale. The hype and the shock and awe drew new members and guests in daily by the thousands.
So what happened for us to find ourselves now the few left here on LPF, with our laser pointers still of no real purpose or needful use?
There was high drama from the very beginning, members taking sides came and went, trolls came and went, scammers came and went, the Rep system was always a distraction, forum hosting and format upgrades came and went.
What changed is simply the novelty, the interest, and the shock and awe upward curve slowed, peaked and began the downward decline now to where the forums have lost the level of interest that before had always kept LPF moving forward inspite of everything else. Where here and now we are left with no clear path ahead and no apparent standard bearer to lead us forward
if you want to know where it all started, the history and statistics
Chronicles of Laser Pointer Forums , albeit I haven't updated it in a very long while, it's all still there (I think)