Re: brain drain at rbt...

Crescentius Vespasianus wrote:
Slowly but surely, the true brains of rbt are going away. I'm sure some day I'll see someone will write a "how do you fix this" question, and the only coherent reply will be, "can't you afford to buy a new bike?" At least there is the archives, that's usually where I search first. It's sad, but we are in a disposable society, and knowledge is no longer valued. Only money fixes everything now.

There are now so many esoteric web sites on specific topics that often the need for r.b.t. (or other newsgroups) is less. I've solved many computer, bicycle, cell phone, and home repair problems with a simple Google search, marveling (and being thankful) that someone took the time to post detailed instructions on how to fix something. The web sites often have diagrams and photographs as well, making them more clear than simple text posts. I've referred to Sheldon's web site many times, usually for tire and rim sizing issues. His clarity and wisdom will outlive him for decades to come.

All of us have some specialized knowledge that many others would find very useful, and that doesn't necessarily lend itself to a newsgroup, or that is inquired about often enough that it's easier to write up some instructions and put them up on the web (there are plenty of free web hosting places to do this).

Something that you think no one else is interested in, there are probably plenty of people interested in. I've been startled to see the number of hits on some of my extremely esoteric sites, i.e. if you want to know how to order Northern Chinese style snack food at restaurants that don't put these items on their English menu, see "http://nordicgroup.us/dianxin/dianxin.pdf";.

In every newsgroup there are those that do not have any coherent response to the actual question and instead feel compelled to respond in some other way. Occasionally the question _does_ lend itself to a response that is not exactly on topic, but not usually. I haven't noticed this problem getting any worse.
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