Paul, at 09:58 on May 07 1996, you wrote to Bill Grimsley...

PE> And all the problems anyone has ever complained about with the Netcomm, are 
PE> all user-errors too, right? 

BG> If you count their actually buying one as a user-error, absolutely.

PE> Nice one, Bill.

Well it's true, Paul.  Anybody who's been involved with modems for more
than a couple of years would normally have enough sense to avoid NetComm
like the plague, given some of the positively atrociously buggy modems
they've produced, not to mention their unfortunate business practices, like
gouging.

PE> Ostriches are here to stay!

BG> Do you actually enjoy being an offensive cunt?

PE> Do you enjoy making a nuisance of yourself, spouting all sorts of
PE> rubbish in your zealotry?

Absolutely.  As long as others keep biting.  :)

PE> I've since sent him a message asking if a couple of weeks delay was OK.

BG> And he hasn't replied yet, right?  So what else is new?

PE> I haven't dialled yet.  If the answer is "no, you must return it
PE> straight away", I wanted a bit more time with the Viper.

But if you're not using the M34F...  Besides, the Viper has always been a
better and more reliable performer than the NetComm, especially from my
POV.

PE> And what fair idea would that be?  Sorry, Bill, you have no idea.

BG> Given the above, I would automatically blame the ONE old modem, especially 
BG> if everybody else was connecting just fine.  Sometimes it just isn't 
BG> feasible to be any more scientific than that.

PE> Like I said, you have NO idea.  That wasn't anything remotely like
PE> my answer, and you CAN be more scientific than that, you can do a
PE> line trace. 

Sure Paul, pity I don't just happen to have a $10k protocol analyser lying
downstairs gathering dust.  The point is that the average USER is not in a
position to do anything remotely like a line trace, and has to decide from
experience alone what modems are the most reliable.

PE> I expect modem manufacturers to do the same thing I do with MSGED.  If 
PE> someone reports a problem, if I am able to easily reproduce it, I will at 
PE> least do that.  Even for a FREE product, nevermind a $675 and counting 
PE> product.

Now that my Courier is on-line, I've had occasion to DL a few of the latest
SDLs, and the README provided with each one indicates that each subsequent
SDL does indeed solve certain prior bugs or problems with the code (quite
aside from adding new and improved features, like CID, Distinctive Ring
etc) so I'm fairly confident that USR is at least making an effort (the
wankers in the USR echo aside) with their code.  Can you say the same about
NetComm?  Certainly, with the Taiwanese clones, you're very much on your
own, and even the name brand local stuff could have much better support.

Regards, Bill

--- Msgedsq/2 3.20