Re: My favorite Apple II

[Kirk Mitchell <kmitchel@nyx.net>]

aiiadict@gmail.com wrote:
: yahoo.com has

: news, file libraries, faqs, and messaging, chat

: all for free.

That is an option.  This missing piece is someone with the energy and
dedication to make it work.  I've tried, particularly ages ago with a
dejanews group called appleiigs.  It's work getting something like that
started, and can discourage if folks don't visit or contribute themselves.

Of course, just when I had a couple of dozen regulars, Google bought them
out and closed us down.  

And I think this makes my point about Syndicomm.  Apple II users had
already had two forums pulled out from under us.. Genie, then Delphi.
Rather than trust in yet another corperation like Yahoo, Sheppy and Gary
decided to control all aspects of our new home.

And it works because it's not just one persons effort.  We have 7 chat
hosts, each with their own evening, a forum host who has those who
contribute topics like programming lessons, a file library guru who
organizes the files, and plenty of folks who act as backups.  

And like Paul mentioned, we tend to get together at KFest because we have
as big a blast with each other in person, as we do online.  B-{)

: Hundreds of other sites offer the same thing.
: If you have a DSL connection and a computer
: that stays on all the time, you could create
: a non-web based meeting place.

This is true.  But the problem remains that it'll likely be a one person
effort, at least to start, and hitting an arbitrary critical mass for the
efforts to begin to seem worthwhile is really a crapshoot.

I really don't mean to discourage anyone for attempting this.  I applaud
them.  I like to think that Apple II folks have more strength of
character than the typical computer user.  B-{)

I've just been down that road, and found that while rewarding, I just
couldn't continue.

And now that there actually IS a working situation, I find I don't see the
point in reinventing wheels.  

: I'd like to see a2central/sindicom offer 1 month
: memberships so I can check out what it's got.

Early on, Syndicomm offered a month's trial.  It led to few subscriptions
and lots of abuse by some.  Sheppy is a man of little patience for such
types, and decided to stop that BS, and lower the price instead.  For $35
you can dump every forum message over the years, and download every file
in the library for a year.  Well worth the price even if you dump it the
next year.

-- 
Kirk