At 23:57 1/02/02 +0800, a subscriber wrote:
A very good friend of mine is after a G4.
And you are telling us this because?
Sigh, I'm estimating my response will result in a flurry of messages, many
of which will add some irrelevant comment, some will display anger, a few
personal replies saying "Good on-ya Onno", most will include a one
word/line/paragraph response at the top of the message while quoting the
whole message below, not many responses to my message will actually be
adding to the substance or discussion.
So here goes:
It is *my opinion* that the WAMUG list is slowly but surely degenerating
into a growing group of subscribers who expect to get free advice from an
ever decreasing group of experts.
I subscribe to WAMUG because I've used Macintoshes since 1985, am a
computer professional and believe that educating users will result in a
better computing experience for all. Educated users attempt to solve their
own problems first, then attempt to search for resolutions offered by
others and finally when faced with a problem that is not resolvable by
themselves, ask some available expert.
It is much easier to ask an expert first, but soon you run out of experts
willing to assist.
The concept - that advice supplied by the members of the list is free of
charge and required - is absolutely absurd.
Just because the person responding to your question didn't send you an
invoice, doesn't mean it didn't cost anything. The time and effort involved
in responding to user queries is born by the respondent as an investment. I
invest in the computing community by assisting subscribers to WAMUG. If a
growing group of subscribers expects free advice for all manner of -
admittedly in my opinion - silly questions, then those users with a genuine
need for assistance will miss out.
You may well suggest that I unsubscribe from WAMUG and stop worrying about
your little tantrums - many professional subscribers have - but I think
that other needful subscribers will loose the benefit of my experience.
Self-regulation only works if each of the members actually self-regulate.
How could the original question, one of many mind you, just the one to bear
the brunt of this response, actually have been a message worthy of the
list's attention?
Well *for example*:
A good friend of mine is after a G4.
They have looked at the various models and
cannot decide which model to go for. As a
result I would like some advice about what
things are important. What kind of questions
should I ask my friend to assist them in their
purchasing decision?
Please note that I am giving the poster the benefit of doubt here, since
the message could well have read in either of these two ways:
A good friend of mine is after a G4.
They would like a really good deal from
someone who is willing to part with
their G4. I'm expecting they could have it
for $100 complete with an LCD monitor,
installed, with lifetime 24 hour on-site
support free of charge.
Or:
A good friend of mine is after a G4.
If you are a retailer of Apple products
please email them, since I cannot be
bothered to do a quick search through
the archive to find the commercial posts
with the addresses of you all.
In conclusion:
By sending every question that pops into your head to the list, more and
more of the time and effort involved in responding to those messages will
result in less people willing to do so.
Thank you for your time,
--
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|>>? ..EBCDIC for Onno..
--- -. -. --- ..Morse for Onno..
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