Last Apple2 Newsgroup?

[joe@smoe.com (Joe Seeley)]

Appears so.  Looking down the list of all the apple2 newsgroups (out of 
20,000+ my feed gets) this is the only one that appears active.  I know 
marketplace has stuff from time to time but it has been empty recently.

The reason I posted this is because someone a couple weeks, very foolishly 
thinking they could get some help from their Apple brethen, asked a question 
related to running the Apple ][ via an emulator.  He of course was not given 
aid and instead was summarily blown off and told to go to the 
comp.emulators.apple2 where (to paraphrase the idiot) the "conversation is 
just hopping about emulators".  Guess what?  This newsgroup is it boys and 
girls (???).  And it is dying quickly.  A far cry from when I first started 
browsing it.

As a rule I lurk, but have come out in the recent past because I see the 
handwriting on the wall and know that if I wait, there's not going to be 
anybody left to read my postings (or to read postings of).

The reason for the downfall for the remnant II community?  Jackasses who are 
rude to everyone and bicker and fight about petty and inconsequential things 
until they run this newsgroup and the a2 community in general into the ground. 
 It certainly isn't due to lack of advancement in technology.  If this were 
the case, then you wouldn't have any explanation of the continued fervor and 
downright flourishing of the C64 and Amiga communities.

Finally, to those who say, "Oh, go to Delphi we have great stuff going on 
there!"  Guess what?  That doesn't help 98% of the people remaining in the A2 
community (the people you are supposedly trying to target or support).  This 
is the age of the internet like it or not and Delphi simply is a laughable 
excuse for a global meeting place (how many a2 members does it have anyway?  
How many period?).  If you really want to do some good, you would take over 
this newsgroup again and make it your main meeting place.

I think everything said here will just be pounced on negatively and the 
downward spiral which has been going on for a couple years will continue unto 
utter oblivion.  So it goes.  Personally I'll get by on my PC and look forward 
to learning the new world of NT 5.0 (you will be assimulated).  In my very 
limited and imperfect manner I have attempted a wake up call, feeling morally 
obliged to do so, no matter how futile it appears.

Sincerely,

Joe Seeley
Ojai, CA  USA