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The "experiment"

To: spridgets@autox.team.net
Subject: The "experiment"
Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 07:41:25 -0800
I guess I have been on and off this list from somewhere back around the
Mesozoic Era.  "In the beginning..." the list was very much different
than it is today.  Back then, probably 99% of the posts were directly
related to Spridgets.  Rarely did they go off-topic, and at that time
"No LBC" just never showed up.

For Spridget owners, the list was an invaluable source of information
and help, even for someone such as myself who has owned my
Bugeye/Frogeye/Mark I for neigh on to 40 years.  People like Frank
Clarici and Jay Fishbein were making invaluable contributions to the
body of knowledge relating to the Spridgets.  I like to think that once
in a while I was able to contribute just a little bit to the
understanding and enjoyment of these marvelous machines by others.

Gradually, however, the list began to change in recent years.  Sometimes
some nastiness crept in, but more and more it became a bull session of
nonsensical jokes and political commentary.   Like many others, I just
grew tired of the timewasters and dropped off the list.  Once in a
while, I would come back to see if anything had changed, and when I
realized it hadn't drop off once again.  I just happened to have dropped
back in to see Mark's post about the problem.

The current issue caused me to go back into my files and see how many of
those who were here four years ago and who were making contributions are
still around.  I would guess that probably 80% have departed.
Obviously, I don't know whether or not they have all left because of the
irrelevance of most posts, but I do know that some have.

Mark's concern for the direction being taken by the list is, I suspect,
well founded.  To be successful, a list such as this must meet a unique
need common to those who subscribe.  If it continues in the present
direction unchecked, it will surely devolve into just another inane
Internet chat room that serves no purpose other than to provide a forum
for jokes and bovine excrement.  If people want to drone on with such
drivel, they should find their own little corner of the Internet and not
foul a special interest list with totally unrelated chat.

At the same time, Mark has a concern for valuable bandwidth.  Someone
had the effrontery to dismiss his concern with a "so what?".  Well,
anyone who has been around the Internet very long knows that bandwidth
is crucial.  It has long been said correctly that you can never have too
much bandwidth.  But it comes at a price, and it can't be wasted!  To
simply reply to a message willy-nilly, without making the effort to edit
out the previous message is a horrendous waste of bandwidth when done by
so many.

Annice and Bob have made a great suggestion that the new day begin with
a discussion of "list manners".  I believe that all could benefit from
such a discussion.

Folks, Mark has done one helluva job in maintaining not just this list,
but all of those "@autox.team.net".  Everyone owes him not just a debt
of gratitude, but their full cooperation.

Just a contrarian view for what it's worth.

Bob Evans
Anaheim, California
AN5

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