Fair & Foul Comment

[tombo@mail.on-line.co.uk (Richard King)]

I've been described in a recent posting as acting like the Topic Police -
I guess I should apologise to anyone I've offended, because I certainly
didn't intend to do so.
 
That said, I stand by my words, and by my wording. I'm a writer - partly
- and I never write anything I'm not willing to hold my head up to. And I
shall continue to make ripostes to postings which I feel are negative and
unhelpful. I will continue to defend the few productive people in the GS
world, too. And I'll do it in my own style, too.
 
As an example, take 'The Tinies' - a great game (politically correct
*ugh*, too - no violence!) and as like as not, the only good one we'll
get this year. But what sort of comments do I see about it? Some are
enthusiastic and complementary, but others rather less so - 'The sound
sucks' - to quote one. An infelicitous and uncharitable phrasing, to put
it mildly.
 
I would suggest that the authors, on reading such remarks, would feel
quite justified in turning to each other and deciding that if this is the
response they get for several man-years of work, then they won't bother.
That would be a pity.
 
What I'm appealing for is MANNERS. Not because I'm some kind of prude, or
bossy-boots, but because the Apple GS is in a very delicate condition -
we are living right on the edge, and one tiny jolt might easily push us
into oblivion, to the land where the Commodore PET, TI99, and thousands
of other computers have gone.
 
I'm not asking for people to keep their criticisms to themselves, either.
If you don't think the sound is very good, that's a perfectly valid
opinion, and fair comment. But from the target's viewpoint, there's a
whole world of difference between 'The sound sucks' and 'I wish the sound
was better' - both of which mean exactly the same thing, and which, I
strongly suspect, is all that the maker of this particular comment
intended. The latter, however, is much more likely to result in an
upgrade or improvement coming about - nobody is going to find the former
much of an encouragement.
 
Because encouragement is what the programmers of this machine need. We've
come to accept - regretfully - that there isn't any real money in
GS-programs, and that any work we do, we do because we like the GS. We
know that we'll never get rich, and that on the contrary, simply having
and using a GS can be quite damaging to our reputations - and remember,
many of us earn our living as professional programmers.
 
But we aren't saints, or the very embodiment of altruism, and without
some sense of reward we won't keep doing this forever. As I've said, we
accept that we won't get money, but we do need moral encouragement.
 
So before making thoughtless comments, can I implore people to _think_
first? Think about how YOU would feel if YOU were the target of the same
comment. Would it make YOU feel good? If not then rephrase it - PLEASE. I
promise you that the few seconds you take to change your wording to
something more encouraging will be time very well spent, and will repay
you with a richer supply of goodies for your GS.
 
 
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Obey little, question much - Walt Whitman | The only thing my GS hasn't
Specialisation is for ants - Lazarus Long | got is a go-faster stripe.
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