Hi Bill,
You where writing to Kerry Kowalski;
> Good grief!  19.2-kbps for an Internet connection?  You've got to be
> kidding?
I'd be lucky to see that speed during the day where I work (educational
institution piped through one straw) During the worst days I see transfer
rates close to 300 bytes/sec (often see under 100 bytes/sec). Early morning
before anybody gets in has a decent 38k bytes a second.  But thats neither
here nor there, for a home connection I'd be more than happy with consistant
14.4k given work conditions. =)
> The important thing is to be DOING SOMETHING USEFUL AND PRODUCTIVE. 
> Getting mired and bogged down in the software that helps make it happen
> isn't all that germane to a writer; an engineer; a historian; a scientist;
> or a janitor just trying to get ahead in Life.  You don't have to know a
> thing about a library to check out and read the books it offers.
 Bill, I don't think anybody is necessarily snubbing the internet as a great
resource, or how to be part of it. It certainly is an excellent resource.
I know I've spend countless hours gathering information on given topics.
As a resource no bbs could ever hope to match in sheer content of pertinant
information. Heck, I got my own web page, and its the best way to reach out
to people accross the globe. Its allowed me to share a look at my hobby with
friends I've made here on fido who otherwise would have to rely on simple
written descriptions or snail mailed stuff. Now, I just put it on the web
once and everyone can enjoy it. Similarily I can surf your page when
scanning grabs my attention, I can download *NOW* the WinRadio demo
software, I can surf other peoples pages. Would I give up the internet? Not
a chance. Would I give up Fido? Not a chance. (see below)
 My *personal* beef with the internet and the demise of the bbs
is that among all the good stuff on the internet, there is hordes of B.S.
When I first got Usenet access it was neat, messages messages and more
messages...BUT there are two problems;
 1) Theres TOOOOOOO many messages.
 2) You have to spend time weeding through the B.S. to get to the content.
 My favorite net to peruse messages? Fido. Why? each echo has a specific
topic with people who for the most part hold a commom interest. There is a
comaradere(sp) you don't find in usenet, and topics do tend to stay
pertinant for the most part. When I'm in OLD_CARS, Everyone I'm surrounded
with is into old cars.  When I'm in rec.autos.* I'm surrounded by a few gear
heads, and many flamers and spammers. Its too time consuming to be able to
get all the good information out of usenet, simply due to the volume.
 In fido, things are relatively flame free ;) and you learn to recognize
trouble makers and go on about business. And catch most everything going
through the echo. Usenet for me, has fallen to perusing for names I
recognize, and ignoring most everything else, which probably means I miss
out on some good input from others. 
 My own ranking on this; Fido is the hands down winner for messageing even
with the hiccups it gets on a regular basis.
 The internet is an excellent information resource, extremely convenient
and efficient way to transfer data, send e-mail, to anybody, anywhere on the
globe, it is NOT a daily readable message forum.
In the end, I suspect however, most peoples beefs are the fact we are losing
*YOUR* input and perspective in this base and any other you might be active
in.
Alex.
 | AmiQWK 2.7 - S/N 0261 |
... Life is short, don't let the bastards grind you down.
--- OLMS 2.60p.a1+ [EPMBP73M]
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