A sampling of what *I* have seen on TowerTalk (TT) in the last several
months:
(1) Watched puerile miscreant posters of personal attacks get
thoroughly and professionally bashed on and off the reflector by a
readership that far and away finds such behavior disgusting and
reprehensible.
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(2) A manufacturer or two (no names) come on and expose an inferior
understanding of concepts essential to their business, and (for the
most part very politely) get taken to task by TowerTalkians (TTn's)
who clearly had a superior command of the subject.
-----
(3) One of the best technical discussions I have ever seen on the
voodoo and witch's brew subject of reflected energy, if one could grit
his teeth long enough to follow it all the way through.
-----
(4) Manufacturers demonstrate a growing understanding that they no
longer have so much control over their own image. Rather that a
wide-open, uncontrollable forum of their customers has both the
readership and the tools to thoroughly shred any false or exaggerated
claims, and report and critique any poor treatment at the hands of the
manufacturer, and by so doing neutralize any amount of advertising to
the contrary. Or for that matter pick up on a really good product and
make it an instant hit.
-----
(5) Listened to the collective breathing of a hundred TTn's who only
read TT (actively or archived) for every TTn who posts. (Most of the
TT readers I know go to the archives.)
-----
(6) Listened to the collective breathing of a thousand hams who talk
with those hundred TTn's.
-----
Some observations...
For the manufacturers:
-----------------------------------
If you mistreat one of us you mistreat us all. If you help one of us
you help us all. We talk to each other and we listen to each other and
we have some really neat ways of doing it.
Taken as a group, at least some of your customers probably understand
your stuff better than you do. The ones that understand will talk to
the rest of them. Get used to it.
We enjoy being a partner to progress. We will happily let you take
advantage of that. Then we'll go yak about it on TowerTalk.
If you don't want it printed on the front page of the New York
Times, or worse, debated on TowerTalk and recorded forever in the
archives, don't type it. With freedom of speech comes freedom of
reference. NO sympathy.
Spin doesn't work on us anymore. We've all been to the voting booths
and everything that goes along with it. We're immune.
For the posters of personal attacks:
------------------------------------------------------
Must have been fifty different TTn's say the same thing fifty
different ways:
NIX ON THE PERSONAL ATTACKS!!
WHAT PART OF THIS DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND??
-------------------------------------------------------
73, y'all
Guy.
Guy L. Olinger
k2av@qsl.net
Apex, NC, USA
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