Re: My favorite Apple II

[Kirk Mitchell <kmitchel@nyx.net>]

PZ <skierpaul@yahoo.com> wrote:

Hi Paul... How's my favorite wall climbing KFester?  B-{)

: ---BEGIN RANTING POST---
: I was simply responding to the statement that the two were seperate
: entities.  I strongly believe that if Syndicomm never existed, then A2
: central would have added message boards a long time ago.  Message
: boards are a natural progression, whether or not the author originally
: intended it or not.  Its why about every news site on the planet has a
: message board or commentary area.  

It might have.  But then Delphi went into cardiac arrest and enough folks
felt that telnet access from actual Apple II's was worth the cost of a
subscription service.  Sheppy hired Dave "The Man" Miller to program the
Syndicomm boards.  Later, webside access to subscribers was added.

One thing those other webside news sites have is revenue from ads.  The
Apple II world has a notable absence of that source of revenue.  B-{)

: The fact that there is news, creates
: demand for a venue for discussion of said news.  In the case of
: A2central, the flow of information exchange is crippled due to the lack
: of a direct interaction capability among its users (unless you schuck
: out the cash.)  

I guess you'll have to take my word for the fact that news announced in
the confines of A2Central's forums or chatrooms quickly makes it's way to
the website or csa2.  Like Sean, I have an affiliation with Syndicomm as
I'm the Real Time Conference Manager and Janitor.  At best we hear lots of
the good stuff first, but we pay for it.  

News certainly makes itself know outside of A2C quickly enough for all but
the quibblers. 

: One might argue that the world might be a better place
: if A2central ceased to exist, since another site might arise to fill
: the void with extended capabilities for the benefit of the A2 community
: as a whole, rather than for those who still want to pay money to be a
: member of club "Genie." 

One might argue that, but one would have to be delusional.  B-{)

: Other online A2 specific message boards have
: come and gone; none of which have been able to generate enough traffic
: to sustain critical mass since they lack the draw of a central news
: site.  A2 central has a lock on the news since most of the big guns in
: the community direct their releases to A2central, and don't bother
: elsewhere.  (yea, I know, Juiced GS is a seperate entity too, yeah
: right.)

And the one time an Apple II based news/forum/chat/file Library archive
reaches the critical mass you (and I of course) regard as so important,
you propose that it should cease to exist?  Excuse me my confusion...

: To more specifically answer you question, why should they provide them
: in the first place?  A2 central should provide message forums because
: that site is one of the first places where new or returning Apple II
: users end up on the web when looking for help or information.  Yes,

There are those that would consider that as sniping on csa2's turf.  And
I'll be frank, csa2 generates more traffic that the forums on A2C if
that's whats worrying you.  On the otherhand, A2C's got one very nice RTC
(live chat) going almost 24/7 with 4-15 folks online.  B-{)

As for Juiced.GS, Sheppy underpays Ryan for that, so there IS a
connection, but slim at best.  All those authors are paid a pittance as
well.  Paid.  If you want freebie news, just go to the A2Central website.
You can get that there.

: csa2 is a great resource for this as well, however you have to ask your
: self, "what fraction of the internet using population know that
: A)usenet exists B)csa2 exists and C)know how to get to csa2?"  Besides,
: ever try telling someone to find the BINSCII packed system 6.01 disks
: on comp.binaries.apple2?

Looks like a promotion problem to me.  And this isn't A2C's problem.  If
you want to get folks to csa2 (which is a fine goal in my opinion too),
then what are YOU going to do about it?  Besides attacking another
successful Apple II forum that is.

: Some questins:  What percentage of the total online Apple II user
: population has membership on Syndicomm?  Now, why should the other
: portion of that total have to pay to have access to the people who are
: the knowlege base of the Apple II community? 

Well, what's that total online Apple II population?  I suspect that
Syndicomm's base is in the really low 3 digits.  You can do the math.

As for your other question, we have some sharp folks, but it's not like
they're doctors or dentists of the A2 world.  Csa2 has the same or similar
band of experts.

: For the benefit of the
: Apple II community, shouldn't the primary online "hangout" be someplace
: that is publicly accessable to all?  (I am in favor of moderation of
: turkeys and such, btw.)

Csa2 serves that purpose, I'm thinking.  Of course, it's unmoderated but
that not a bad thing either.

If folks are online, they're paying for their ISP, right?  What's another
$0.10/day to join a nice Apple II forum which also offers spamfiltered
email, and webspace to build your own website?  And live chat whenever you
like.

If it's not worth it to you, I can understand.  But why waste time moaning
about it?

-- 
Kirk