True, but this only happens very infrequently
<bringing the message back on topic>
When I went to the WashNUG this last several weekends
ago, very little was discussed about the Newton. In
fact, when I arrived at around 8:00, there was only
one Newton out of a case and sitting on the table, and
it was a 120 (well, there was another Newt connected
to a hub and a emate) but there were 3 people there
and the other two didn't even have their Newtons out.
The conversations that were subsequently had were
normal, standard, "getting to know you" kinds of
talking, "hi, I'm jon, what do you do IRL?" kind of
stuff. (the meeting didn't break up untill almost
2:00am! 6 hours! Nobody can talk Newton for 6 hours!)
That's kinda like the way I see NewtonTalk. Despite
the banter and the disagreements (and the inability of
the Mac-o-philes to "see the <dark>...come over to the
dark side, it's nice and busy! ;-p ) I still regard
everyone on this list as a "virtual" friend! Now don't
get me wrong, you guys aren't "buds" or the like, but
if there were a genuine emergency and there was
something I could help out on, then yes, I would go
out of my way. You don't get that way talking "shop"
You learn about the people you choose to spend time
with, whether it's IRL, or virtual. I've never met Woo
(or is that ooW), or Victor or 99% of you guys (and
gals) and I've only recently met some locals (Sean,
Zac and Laurent). Now if I see one of these people, I
will wave at them with the acceptance of knowing them.
Virtual relationships can have just as much meaning as
IRL relationships. Heck, some days I "talk" with you
guys more than actual flesh and blood people! I look
at this "list" (that's such an impersonal description)
as something like a neighborhood pub, or something
similar (insert your version of "lodge", "hall",
"coffee house" here) populated by people who have a
shared interest. There are many different
conversations going on, and like talking to friends at
a bar, sometimes someone else's conversation drowns
out the one you're in...do like you do in the bar,
turn and look at the offending vocalist, make a face
and raise your drink, smile and introduce yourself.
Who knows, you might find a similar interest.
But yes, you're right...This is a Newton Talk list and
as such the majority of discussion should be about the
device we call a Personal Digital Assistant. And
really, the discussions are...for the most
part...about Newtons and things "message pad-ish" and
when things get out of hand, the list MOMs and DADs
will admonish us for swaying too far off topic and
gently nudge us back on to the path of greeness. But
that's OK also...because after all, that's the whole
reason we're here in the first place.
Ed
web/gadget guru
--- "John M. Powell" <iwillbefreedotcom_at_earthlink.net>
wrote:
>
> > As long as we keep the S/N ratio below the levels
> of
> > people actually leaving the list, then I think
> > occational OT stuff should not only be tolerated,
> but
> > accepted. We're people living in a world populated
> by
> > other people. Conversations tend to get started!
> > Ed
> > web/gadget guru
>
> True. But when you've subscribed to a list for a
> specific
> purpose and 90+% of the traffic has nothing to do
> with the
> Newton... well, I've got no plans to jump ship but
> it really
> gets old fast.
>
> John
=====
note: This does not constitute a sig file...
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