Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1999 14:53:47 -0500
Reply-To: William Wedenoja <waw105f@MAIL.SMSU.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: William Wedenoja <waw105f@MAIL.SMSU.EDU>
Subject: Re: Where From?--ConsumerSearch seed funding; begins hiring
editors, others
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
The service you describe would be a useful one. And it would be easy I
suppose to simply extract this info from the list and post it on a FAQs
page. Would save time, be more efficient, etc. But I don't think specific
info is the only reason people are on the list. It'is probably what gets
them here. But not why they stay. There seems to be a real sense of
community, which is an age-old need, being realized in new ways today.
Isn't it ironic that this community may be easier to find on the net than it
is around us? Also, diagnosing a problem--overheating, for example--is more
complicated than deciding which tire to buy or where one can find an awning.
And reading other people's (mechanical) problems--before we experience
them--helps us anticipate them, know them when we see them, and respond more
quickly when we begin to experience them. It's kinda like going to the
library (or a hardware store) just to browse; I always come away with
something new and useful.
Notwithstanding, it is a serious commitment of time to keep up with the
list, given the volume of messages!
My two cents, and then some.
(probably will generate some idle chat!)
Bill
----- Original Message -----
From: Derek Drew <drew@INTERPORT.NET>
> I was on the list the first day it began on 4/2/94, and as is the usual
> course, posted a lot for about two years and now post sparingly. This is a
> disease that afflicts old timers in which they post less and less, even
> though they know the answers to things, because they are horrified at the
> amount of idle chat, and are nervous that their posts might be
contributing
> to the noise level.
> .....
> If we had launched this project into the Vanagon world, we would keep
track
> of all the postings that advise vanagon list members about which
antifreeze
> to use and then keep this information current and updated. Right now, it
> might take me hours of reading through vanagon list postings to determine
> the answers to simple questions: what is the best awning to buy for a
> Westy, what is the best u-joints for rebuilding syncro driveshafts, what
> consensus is there about the best aftermarket source of a motor.
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