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Two pence here, well, more like 5 but that's the boom for ya...
1) Annual subscription of the magnitude of $10 (7 quid) no problem for me -
even under student/welfare/subsistence level conditions. Monthly it's more
than "a couple of beers or a cheeseburger & fries" more like "that bottle
of Dom Perignon '77 or those tuition fees for that elective module". Which
is it? I've seen references to both. A valuable resource yes, but my
education would come first...at the cost of my professional skills?
PARADIGM! PARADIGM! PARADIGM!
Certainly, despite student stereotypes, I don't know that many these days
in the UK who live in an alcohol-fuelled haze, and a lot don't even go out
once a week.
2) OK, basically, as I understand it Eric & Deb want to be able to set up
at no outlay to themselves without being tied to any organisation. Is there
scope here for a bulk 'one-off' subscription we pay to see them through
this stage and review after that?
INFORMATION MAPPING USING STRUCTURED WRITING TECHNIQUES!
3) What about fining people for breaking list protocol?
USER TESTING!
4) I think if it's a chargeable service then access to the archives has to
be considered - are they open to all through the website or only to
subscribers? Let's face it I could keep a week behind if archives were
free. Like a delayed digest. Then we literally are paying to post. But,
dependent on your 'phone contract, this could end up more expensive with
the money going to...erm...concerns that rarely show a loss anyway.
5) Similarly, let's not forget the way the web (well, internet) was won. I
have freeware, and also shareware, on my machine. I know there's the
argument that if you can't manage your affairs then you're just a wannabee
but techwr-l is an internationally available list. Exchange rates vary as
do living standards. What about posters being GENUINELY willing to donate
say 1 or 2 % of their annual income - more at their discretion? Come on,
are we more interested in proving how professional we are or providing a
resource to help raise the quality of technical documentation worldwide -
particularly where there is risk to life & limb as in engineering hardware?
6) Actually, in my current position, I'd be likely to sign-off. There are
other lists, still free, closer to home. I haven't noticed anybody
explicitly saying they would do this, so I'd better be both a realist and
demographically representative and say it's a likely outcome in my case. At
the moment I pay to send & receive e-mail via dialup. Similarly I pay to
use newsgroups the same way. A lot of the time I have my options set to
NOMAIL because I'm busy and don't feel it's relevant at that time. This
holds for every list I'm on at some point. I like the informal drop-in
drop-out nature of lists. I can think of at least 3 others I'm NOMAIL on
right now OK, so two of them are hobby lists not professionally-oriented
but I'd take my chances. No offense Eric & Deb, I value honest feedback so
I'm giving you some. Why should I pay for something I only receive 10% of
the time? (see my other post) I'm happy to contribute to discussions.
Essentially, enough people have expressed a willingness to pay that I
wonder if they'll be able to cover the set-up costs voluntarily - have any
of you mailed those cheques yet? Particularly the 'Ah! what's 10 bucks?'
contingent? If you mailed them in now - whatever you feel is of value - we
may not even have to be charged officially. I'd be likely to contribute a
one-off of however much I can afford.
And last but not least - shareholding/internet stocks, making a dividend
off advertising whilst keeping the service free?
Just mi: 2 penses. I hope they're of value and not a waste of time to read.
I know not all of them are viable but I'm brainstorming. You decide what
you want out of them.
