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>This morning's TECHWR-L digest required nearly 25 minutes to download from
>America Online on the 2400 baud line available in my hometown ... blah blah
blah
I'm getting really good at deleting messages like this one. To me, it is
simply whining at one level. At another level, it is censorship. You're
telling me to stop talking because I'm costing you money. That only makes me
want to reply to every TECHWR-L message that comes across, while keeping the
original message intact, until I'm flamed off the system or the weak are
forced to give up.
This is all very Darwinian...and capitalism is, indeed, a rough game. When
you get tired of paying $2 per day for your AOL connection, you'll probably
figure out how to get a better Internet feed. For starters, you might pay
for a 28.8 Kbaud modem, and download AOL's new version 2.5 software beta
with the advanced features and the 800# access. Or give up on AOL and find a
local provider; they're springing up like weeds. Failing that, start your
own and make lotsa $$$. But stop complaining, because this list seems to be
growing, and the bottom line is, we are, after all, WRITERS. This is what we
do, what makes many of us tick. Stop trying to shut us up, because you
can't. For your $2 a day, you're not going to get a top ten list of the most
poignant, on-topic utterings from across the land. You get a forum where
tech writers can explore, opine, request, and pontificate. There may be
arguments and debates, but those are healthy, too, as long as they're
related to tech writing. As long as someone gains from the experience, they
continue. When they don't, they unsubscribe.
I'm handling over 1,000 e-mail messages a week with all my list
subscriptions, not to mention another 200 per week on CompuServe and a
trickle on my AOL account. I'm pretty fast on the delete key, and restrained
in my replies. I don't read every TECHWR-L message from top to bottom, but
to paraphrase Voltaire, I'll defend to the death everyone's right to post
their two cents' worth.
Garret Romaine
gromaine -at- radisys -dot- com
Josie Wales: "That's how it is lately. Whenever I get to likin' someone,
they ain't around long."
Indian Chief: "I noticed when you get to dislikin' 'em, they ain't around
long neither."
