Actually, messages like yours kill useful mailing lists, by adding even
more noise to the list.
Speaking as one of the voices who posted one of the "blah blah blah"
messages you're apparently complaining about, my post was intended to
foster discussion of possible solutions to the Ogo's few faults, and to
explore all possible options on the topic.
And discussions like this DO occasionally inspire people to solve
problems. For example, discussion of the Ogo's lack of an AC adaptor DID
motivate someone to design a suitable substitute. Discussions about the
lack of a backlit screen DID motivate someone into posting about a light
you can purchase at Brookstone (or a similar catalog) that solves the
problem. Discussions about the OmniGo's crummy connection kit have lead
to a few people starting up a project to develop some kind of "improved"
connection kit (albeit for UNIX platforms) based on the ogftp and gpk
installers that now exist.
And, while I'm sure this can't be proven, I wonder if the minor
improvements in the OmniGo 120 were actually fostered by discussions on
this mailing list. It does appear, in my mind, that HP is trying to fix
the problems that I see with the OmniGo. The new screen does,
effectively, eliminate my legibility complaint. ClipNGo and Pocket
Quicken in ROM does, in a roundabout way, ease my memory issues by placing
the two applications I most desired in my OmniGo out of my limited RAM
headroom. Granted, there is still no AC or IR, but hey. Maybe there will
be an OmniGo 140. Who knows. But, I'm digressing from my point.
I've seen it time and time again; on the Atari Jaguar mailing list, for
example, it wasn't the whiners that killed the list. Non-productive
whiners eventually go away, and find something else to whine about. It was
the bickering ABOUT the whiners that eventually made the list useless. I
hope the OGO mailing list dosen't have the same fate. Long after the
whiners hade gone on to the PlayStation mailing list (whining there,
too), the bickering continued. Productive "whiners" are usually
interested in solving the problems, however. They are usually the ones
who "build a better mousetrap" and make up for whatever inadequacy they
feel is in the product.
For myself, my complaints were not voiced aimlessly. My complaints were
intended to gain insight into "why" things were done they way they were
done, and to "fish" for solutions. I'm finding them, and getting on with
my life.
Are you?
--- Chris Sullivan | 714-648-9433 | At what point does technology feedle@webbwerks.com | Orange, CA | become indistingushible from magic? csullivan@xix.com | U.S.A. | !!! Penny Does Mags !!!