We launched as an email newsletter in 1994, hit the web four years later and are now a multinational media entity operating on three continents. Millions of people read us every month, which is humbling.

We may have missed our birthday, but did do some proper “we've turned 21 and that means we're probably quite grown up now” introspection, and resolved to make a few changes.

We're not changing the fundamentals. You'll still get a very familiar Reg package complete with cracking headlines, stories written in playful language, plus a mix of business, personal and weird technology. There’ll be plenty of science and bootnotes. Regulars like BOFH aren't going anywhere.

But you will see us re-focus our energies on the things we do best: serving IT professionals of all sorts by breaking news and offering insightful analysis on business technology and the policies that shape it.

We'll continue to Bite The Hand That Feeds IT, a phrase we understand to mean considering information with studied scepticism informed by long experience, not negativity or cynicism.

It's never been more important to take that stance than it is today, a time when governments and vendors subject you to pervasive surveillance and therefore make deep consideration of policy essential. 2016 is also a year in which suppliers will accelerate their moves to subscription models, an arrangement promoted as flexible and cheap by an army of communications professionals dedicated to putting a ShinyHappy^TM sheen on everything.

In that and in every other area we cover, The Reg will crunch the numbers, reveal the gotchas and try to keep the wool off your eyes.

Among our plans are a new way to treat the news of the day, so that you – and our team – can get across a day's news quickly, then delve into deeper coverage of the things that matter most to you.

As an older and wiser publication, we've also come to realise that some of our more adolescent behaviours are starting to look a little inappropriate. Expect less SHOUTINESS, an evolving sense of humour, more modern and global cultural touchstones, science coverage that gives proper prominence to peer-reviewed, evidence-based research and a recognition that attempted self-aware hopefully ironic sexism is almost always indistinguishable from actual sexism.

Forgive us the use of the term “reader experience” but we're going to try to improve it too. We'll revisit the site's design on all devices and for those of you who read through aggregators. We're also conscious that the web can now host any form of content, but we rely heavily on the written word. Indulge us in an experiment or three as we explore how to use the medium.

Regular readers have probably noticed that we've already made some changes. A few of our writers have moved on. We've retired the Weekend Edition, which did lovely things for our Saturday and Sunday traffic but turned out not to be the best use of our resources.

The Reg team thinks it has given itself a nice set of challenges to chase in 2016. Our overall resolution is to become an even better business tech news publication. We want new regular readers to admire our improvement, former readers to find reasons to return and of course to attract new readers too! Those readers might be career techies, technology managers, a CIO, a CEO or a student. Whatever your role in making IT a part of business, we're aiming to be one of your valued sources for insightful news. And hopefully the number one source.

So there you have it: our resolutions for 2016. We’re also going to do something about that big pile of sweets and doughnuts at the end of the editorial desk, iron shirts more often and stop splitting infinitives once we figure out the rules of grammar and what they have to do with our mother’s mother.

From all of us to all of you: all the best for a healthy, prosperous, stimulating and healthy 2016. If we get this right, we plan to be a big part of the prosperity and the stimulation.

The Register ®