Re: FORD,GM,DODGE

[shack@deimos.frii.com (Randy Shackelford)]

In article <01bba7af$ef295780$54f30c26@cd003508.interramp.com>,
Tom Zuchowski <cd003508@interramp.com> wrote:

>> This group was comp.sys.apple when I started reading 8-9 years ago. So
>it's
>> changed a little bit. I don't know how to make it any different without
>> having the name not reflect what the group's about.
>
>Yeah, that would be a problem. And certainly no one could have foreseen 8-9
>years ago that so many Mac people would come to the point of not even
>knowing that the Apple II existed.  With 20-20 hindsight, Apple II users
>would have done well to have claimed a name that does not have the full
>word "apple" in it, such as a2 or apl2. But we can't retroactively change
>the world. <g>

Coupla observations: one, it's hard to fault someone who recently got their 
first Apple computer for not knowing what kinds of products Apple used to
make but has not done so for years. Going back to the car analogy, most
people getting a new Camaro for their first car probably don't know much
about Chevelles unless they're real Chevy fans. Second, having an obtuse
group name is not a good way to attract new readers. For instance, the
newsgroup for Married with Children is alt.tv.mwc. It doesn't have a lot
of traffic because would you look for a group with that name or recognize
it if you saw it? I'm afraid the status quo is the best we can do, particularly
when you take into account the people who would howl about a name change
like they did when csa became csa2.
-- 
Randy Shackelford                                 US Air Force officer
shack@frii.com                                    and Apple aficionado