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"It's been... fun."February 12, 2006 - Summer 2001 was better times for Star Trek fans. The fifth Star Trek series 'Enterprise' was in development, the Next Gen film franchise was in good good shape and this writer/designer had lots of time to devote to his twin favorite passions, Star Trek and the Web. It was in those bustling days, that the idea of Trek5 was born: a well-designed quality fan website that would focus on Star Trek. Back in those days, there were fewer well-designed and complex Trek sites. Christian was doing great work at TrekToday, Steve was brimming with news at TrekWeb, but the fan-based sites were still a hodge-podge and hard to navigate. In short, aggressive and experienced web designers like me decided the time was right to bring another level of content and voice to Star Trek fandom as it was presented on the Internet. Then came 9/11, the dot-com meltdown, and my growing concern that 'Enterprise' was not going to keep Gene Roddenberry's vision flying high for years to come. By the middle of the second year of 'Enterprise.' my fellow Trek5 reviewer Captain Mac and I were so tired of the NX-01's crew and stories that we stopped reviewing the series. Little did we realize that we were stopping short of the arrival of terrific 4th season showrunner Manny Coto. With the faltering California economy, time constraints of raising a family and hustling for paying web and design work, it became more difficult for me to make site updates to Trek5. I made a decision early on that I was not going to make any revenue from this site for fear that Paramount's lawyers would come knocking with a cease and desist letter. (Trek5 had thousands of Paramount-copyrighted images on it.) The Star Trek market has grown smaller. There is no new Star Trek on television or in the theaters. Trek conferences are fewer now and more expensive, and it's harder for me to develop features. New series like Ron Moore's tremendous Battlestar Galactica are reshaping the face of sci-fi on the small screen. On the Star trek plus side, Startrek.com has improved tremendously over the last five years, and TrekPulse became the 'go to' place to get caps from Trek DVDs. Trek5's role in the web marketplace became less distinct and as a result, less relevant. With these thoughts in mind I have decided to close the door, beam myself up and warp out of here — or at least 1/4 impulse :-) I am grateful to everybody who has helped out over the years, most notably Captain Mac and his new site, StarTrekHistory.com. Thanks also to Dave R. for his videos and the great folks at Trek Today who always promoted my press releases. My biggest thanks go to my wife and stepson who have humored me while I put literally thousands of hours into the site. I love you both! Some day, Trek5 may be back. Meantime, I am happy with what Trek5 has been able to contribute to the Internet and Star Trek in some small way. I hope you have enjoyed it as well. Live long and prosper! |