About

ClintonFitch.com is a  mobile community website providing in-depth reviews of hardware and software related to the Windows Mobile Professional (PocketPC) and Standard (Smartphone) platform, Apple’s iPhone and Windows-based PCs.  The site is owned and operated by Clinton Fitch, Microsoft MVP in Windows Phones with a contributing of Catherine Fitch, Robert Fitch and Judie Lipsett.

History:  A Personal Site Gone Mad

Clintonfitch.com was officially registered on July 1, 2002 as a personal website for Clinton Fitch.  Clinton, who was actively involved in the Handheld PC community at HPC:Factor, originally set up the site to be a personal outlet for his views, thoughts, religious beliefs and his passion for Formula One.  The site was nothing more than a collection of hyperlinks providing no significant input to the Windows Mobile community.  Indeed if you went to the site looking for Handheld PC reviews, you were pointed to HPC:Factor.

With hardware and software review writing continuing at HPC:Factor, Clinton felt the need to have similar in depth reviews on the still somewhat new PocketPC platform.  This was fueled by the few sites who provided such content along with a desire to further his knowledge of the platform.  On July 30, 2004 Clinton posted his first PocketPC review on Clintonfitch.com on the Viewsonic V36 Pocket PC.  The review was well received thanks to crosslink promotion of it on PocketPCThoughts and Smartphone & PocketPC Magazine‘s forums.  Shortly thereafter additional reviews on Ilium Software’s DockPro and eWallet quickly brought ClintonFitch.com into the PocketPC community.

Rebirth and Rebranding

Seeing the growth of the site and demand for more reviews, Clinton with the help of Chris Tilley, administrator of HPC:Factor, began a significant rebranding of Clintonfitch.com to transform the site from a personal website to a more professional looking and feeling location.  Clinton began by changing the branding of the site to Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com! while Chris created the first site graphics depicting this new branding. While the site redesign was in progress, Clinton also worked behind the scenes on a multitude of reviews that were to be launched with the redesigned site.

 

ClintonFitch.com! was officially launched on August 3, 2004 with a collection of 8 reviews.  Additional reviews were added weekly, brining the total reviews available by the end of 2004 to 18.  For all of 2004, less than 300,000 visitors came to Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com!, a number that would be met every month by the end of 2005.

2005:  The Explosion

2005 was the year that cemented Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com! in the Windows Mobile community.  That year, Clinton secured the exclusive “first reviews” of several applications including Phatware’s PhatPad, CalliGrapher and Phatnotes, Ilium’s eWallet 4, and Conduits Technology’s Pocket Artist 3.  July 2005 also brought advertising to the site for the first time which helped offset the costs of running the ever growing site and to secure software and hardware to review.

May 2005:  Clinton is nominated to be a judge in the Smartphone & PocketPC Magazine Best of Awards

October 24, 2005: Clinton is invited to join Mobius, a community devoted to following and reporting on topics and news related to mobile devices and consumer electronics.

November 2005:   RSS was added as an alternative news source on Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com! for visitors.  It would remain this way until November 2006 when it became the primary news source for the site and the News section of the site was removed.

December 2005:  Clinton attends the Mobius gathering in Seattle, Washington, meeting several owners of key Windows Mobile community sites, some of whom had nominated Clinton to be invited to join the group.

Reviews available on ClintonFitch.com!:  30

2006:  Continued Growth

January 1, 2006:   Clinton is nominated as a Microsoft MVP in Mobile Devices for his contributions to the Windows Mobile community.

March 2006:  The first review of Catherine Fitch to the site.  Catherine’s first review was on the Apple iPod Nano

May 20, 2006:  Clinton is nominated for a second consecutive year to be a judge in the Smartphone & PocketPC Magazine Best of Awards

August 2006:  To help celebrate the 2 year anniversary of the site, the branding was changed once again.  Chris Tilley created this new branding which was in use until February 14, 2010.

 

November 2006:  The News section of the site was officially shutdown as RSS continued to grow.  The RSS feed for Clinton Fitch (Dot) Com! became the primary news source for the site.

November 13, 2006:  The ClintonFitch.com! store come online.  The store, which offers Windows Mobile software and accessories, was an instant hit, providing site visitors a one-stop-shop for reviews and for the ability to purchase the software being reviewed – often at a discount.

Reviews available on ClintonFitch.com!: 70

2007:  New Faces

January 1, 2007:  Clinton is nominated for a second consecutive year as a Microsoft MVP in Mobile Devices

February 15, 2007:  Feedburner becomes the primary host for the ClintonFitch.com! RSS Feed

March 8, 2007:  IntelliTXT becomes sponsor of ClintonFitch.com!

April 24, 2007:  Giganews becomes sponsor of ClintonFitch.com!

April 25, 2007:  Judie Hughes writes her first review as a contributor to ClintonFitch.com!

April 27, 2007:  Clinton Fitch is nominated for a third consecutive year as a judge for the Smartphone & PocketPC Magazine Best of Awards

June 6, 2007:  Version 4 of ClintonFitch.com! is launched

June 12, 2007:  RSS Feed added to highlight daily specials at the ClintonFitch.com! store

July 11, 2007:  Catherine releases first full software review of Spb Brain Evolution

Reviews available on ClintonFitch.com!: 97

2008:  Four Years and Counting….

January 1, 2008:  Clinton is nominated for 3rd consecutive years a a Microsoft MVP in Mobile Devices

March 28, 2008:  ClintonFitch.com! sees its 12 millionth visitor

April 15, 2008:  ClintonFitch.com! sees its 13 millionth visitor

April 29, 2008:  Spb Software House becomes key site sponsor until May 2009

June 30, 2008:  ClintonFitch.com! sees its 14 millionth visitor

September 3, 2008:  Resco becomes a key site sponsor until September 2009

October 4, 2008:  ClintonFitch.com! sees its 15 millionth visitor

December 29, 2008:  ClintonFitch.com! sees its 16 millionth visitor

Reviews available on ClintonFitch.com!: 110

2009:  A new year, new beginnings….

January 1, 2009:  Clinton is nominated for a 4th consecutive year as a Microsoft MVP in Mobile Devices

March 9, 2009:  Spb Software House renews sponsorship of the site through July 2010

March 10, 2009:  ClintonFitch.com! sees its 17 millionth visitor

March 2009:  Business month in the history of the site with 12 reviews published

April 2009:  Published a 3-part series on tweaking the HTC Touch Diamond and Touch Pro.

April 28, 2009:  ClintonFitch.com! sees its 18 millionth visitor

June 22, 2009:  ClintonFitch.com! sees its 19 millionth visitor

July 28, 2009:  ClintonFitch.com! sees its 20 millionth visitor

August 3, 2009:  ClintonFitch.com! celebrates 5 years online

September 19, 2009:  ClintonFitch.com! sees its 21 millionth visitor

October 8, 2009:  ClintonFitch.com posts its first iPhone review

November 12, 2009:  ClintonFitch.com sees its 22nd millionth visitor.  11th iPhone review on the site.

 2010:  A new year, new beginnings….

 February 1, 2010:  Version 5.0 of ClintonFitch.com launches

February 9, 2010:  ClintonFitch.com sees its 23rd millionth visitor

April 12, 2010:  ClintonFitch.com sees its 24th millionth visitor

Reviews available on ClintonFitch.com: 165

Last Update:  August 2, 2010