[CQ-Contest] Packet has ruined Ham Radio

[Art Boyars]

Some responders missed the cultural reference there.  The subject line was a joke, guys.  I wrote it as a play on common old geezer* phrases, such as:
  "Roosevelt ruined the country."

  "The designated hitter ruined baseball."

  "The three-point shot ruined basketball."
(I neither approve nor disapporove of any of those statements.  For goodness sake, they are just examples!)

It's a fact that Packet made Ham Radio different from what it used to be.  So did PSK-31, SSB, FM, CW, store-bought radios, and making Scotland a separate country from England for DXCC.  Whether it "ruined" Ham Radio is an issue of taste.  De gustibus non disputandum est.  Treat it how you like, but please remember that this is a hobby.  If you don't like the rules, try to change them by polite discussion.  If they don't change, then either accept them, or go do something else.

If somebody cheats at ham radio, be disappointed rather than angry.  Save your moral outrage and rantings for something more important.

73, Art K3KU

*Speaking of old geezers, my daughter got me a birthday card.  It shows an old geezer sitting on a park bench, saying, "Ehhh!  I remember when I was 18 yeras old ....Or as we called it, XVIII"