Re: Crossroads


"West" <nospam@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:wn03j.37573$Xg.2933@xxxxxxxxxxx
I believe that this NG is at a crossroad. It's about to be totally
destroyed
or it will come to a head and recover to flourish for years to come.

Morning West.


I wrote my reply earlier, but kept it back to see what
the general trend of response would be. Heat and
kitchens (see below) come to mind:-)

In the ten or so years that I have been following RAT,
there have been continual sinusoidal peaks and troughs.
At each trough, the Prophets of Doom pronounce,
"RAT is finished" But, luckily this never seems to
be the case.

Take it or leave it, but RAT is what it is, and
what we make of it.


The
whole world is falling apart from this sort of incivility, so its no great
wonder that this NG is also affected by this plague. We could cite many
reasons for our problems.

This is an interesting phenomenon, and something that
has been discussed here and elsewhere frequently. I
have often wondered about the degree of malevolence.
I feel sure that if we were all sitting round a large
table in your or my office, the discussion would follow
the agenda, and be informative and cordial, and that
we would all get along famously. So why is Usenet so
different? The reply to this question is usually that
NGs are a "rough and tumble, not to be taken too
seriously" or "If you don't like the heat, stay
out of the kitchen"


For this very reason many good people decide
RAT is not worth the trouble, and disappear to
pastures new. There have been two instances in
recent weeks, Sander, and Chris Hornbeck. Both
were dedicated and well informed. Their absence
is a loss to the whole group. They did not leave
because they were involved directly in confrontation,
but because they were tired of the fractious behaviour
of some of the people here, who actually have no
interest in tube audio at all, but see it as their life's
work to disrupt discussion in the forum.


We could name the especially aggressive
troublemakers. However, if they were to leave, more would most likely come
to take their place. The epidemic is formidable. The inciters most likely
know not what they do.

For some reason, RAT seems to act as an (electro:-) magnet for
tube amp haters. There are several among the current personnel.
They too, come and go, but sadly seem a lot more persistent that
the real tube hobbyists. Usually, they explain their presence here
as some sort of a crusade, in which they feel they must correct the
errors of others. Pinkerton was a prime example of this. His skill
was such that he could denounce the performance of a tube amp
just by looking at the schematic of a different amp by the same
maker! Greatly missed:-)

Fortunately, Stewart's stay here was not a long one, but still
several good tube amp people decided enough was enough,
and left RAT to join closed groups when invited to do so.
They post actively on those groups in a friendly and well-informed
environment. Others keep touch by e-mail so all is not lost,
exept their presence on RAT.


We see the symptoms of the troubles on RAT on a daily basis,
post after post on thread after thread of animosity. The cure is
a lot more complex. LV mentions the kill-file. One contributor,
who is definately socially challenged and the majority of whose
posts are cut and paste invective on a daily basis, every now and
again writes something of great interest which I definitely would
not wish to have missed (and answers a question that may have
been in the back the mind for years)

I know from e-mail correspondence, and from my dealings
with students, that tube audio interests a great many. It is
no co-incidence however that there are no beginners on RAT,
which would, one have thought, be the ideal place to ask a
question and get some encouragement or inspiration. The
reason for their absence is self-evident:-)

I think the answer to the problem is two-fold. First of all,
we all need to pull ourselves together, and start acting like
sensible adults. Second, the SNR ratio on RAT is in direct
ratio to the number of relevant and on-topic posts. So more
good threads on tube amp topics are needed. The more
flames, the further back most people withdraw, until some
of them decide not to bother any more. There are plenty of
good alternatives

Cordially,
Iain



.

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