RE: Re: UKHA usenet group

["Kenneth Watt" <kennethwatt@xxxxxxx>]

I would have t  agree with Kieran in a lot of respects as would, I'm
sure, a lot of the people that are not 100% au fait with the internet
and its various permutations regarding IRC, Newsgroups, email lists and
IM services. Remember, many of those that are making comments on this
subject are so used t  the net and using it that setting up and using
either newsgroups and/or IRC have been using these services since their
college/Uni. days and these habits die hard!

I, personally, have no fear or reservations about using IRC or
newsgroups services but I am sure that many would, particularly
newcomers t  the group who are unsure of either the internet or PC use.

PC use has only exploded in the past few years and you simply have t
look at the penetration and number of users of IM services t  see that
these have overtaken IRC by leaps and bounds. I'm not saying that IRC
does not have its place, I am saying that IRC is being left behind t
some extent by newer, more user friendly services like AIM and MSN.
Perhaps its because they are pre-installed, perhaps its because they're
easy, I really don't know but I d  know that no-one has asked me t  get
involved in an IRC chat for about two years or so.

Sorry but I believe that any attempt t  move this list t  IRC or a
newsgroup would ruin the spirit of the thing.

Yes, there are a lot of posts and, yes, a lot of them d  wander off
t pic and it can be a bit frustrating to sort them out at times, but at
the end of the day, there are about 150-200 members on this group that
never or very rarely post and they have not unsubscribed! This would,
IMO, indicate that the information is useful, entertaining or even both
and that these people (come on out we don't bite...much) are genuinely
interested in the proceedings.

I think that the answer lies in a compromise, by using MSN, which
clearly looks t  be the most common IM service in use by members, then
real-time chat can be had. I think that a chat area can be set up on MSN
much like the way AOL works and that solves the real-time problem whilst
still remaining open t  new users and those that are not used t  using
older services like IRC.

As for the rest, my opinion, FWIW, is as Kieran's - "if it ain't broke
don't fix it"

K.

<Kieran Wrote>

To be perfectly honest i would abstain.  ive always been an advocate of
if
it aint broke dont fix it and yes i understand there some things about
this
group that do need fixing but I am still not certain usenet or irc are
the
way t  go.

Personally I dont imagine I would look at usenet more than once every
few
days which means I am very unlikely t  ever respond t  someones post,
quite
simply because the t pic would have moved on by then t  something else.

Like many I cant afford much time online in the evenings t  join in with
an
IRC chat and I really dont think many people would go out there way to
read
IRC logs given they know how people on this site talk (no offence phil!)

Email is all perversaive these days and is responsive, not in real time
like
IRC but pdq almost 24 hours a day.  At the end of the day Id go with the
grow majority on this but I still think postings and members would go
down.
Of the 300 people on this list less than 15 people have made any comment
on
the subject and some might say this thread could be as off putting as
the
drunken saturday night thread by the time its finished.

Just my thoughts.

<SNIP>



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