<HTML><HEAD> <META charset=US-ASCII http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1476" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff"> <DIV> <DIV>In a message dated 5/23/2006 10:26:24 AM Eastern Daylight Time, rnossaman@cox.net writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><BR><FONT face=Arial>I just looked at it. There are 57 pages of thread topic <BR>listings. I'm wondering how this is a time saver??? There's <BR>apparently something I've missed.<BR>Ron N</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV>Let me give you all some insight into alternatives to posting here. I'll try to be as fair and balanced as possible, so you can see the pros and cons. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Here, it comes in your email, so your mailbox is stuffed when you come home. You have to do a lot of deleting of things that you don't think will interest you, and going back to reread things gets a little tricky and time consuming. PianoWorld's format allows it to stay available for reading over and over, keeps all the responses to a given topic in an organized order. Where PianoWorld and other similar options fail you is in security of the material, and searching through the material later on. On internet based sites such as PianoWorld, should the owner of the site choose to take his cookies and go home, all your material will be gone. He owns it once you post it, and is under no obligation to keep it available. So, internet based sites offer convenience, unclutters your mailbox, and organizes topics in a very readable manner - all things you lack with your current setup. On the other hand, your current setup protects your information, and internet based sites can't be relied upon to do that.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Another problem with PianoWorld is politics. Your discussions will be interrupted and taken off course by nontechnician novice consumers who insist upon having their views given equal footing with your's, and highjacked by salesmen trying to steer the conversation toward their particular brands. You will find what began as an interesting and informative discussion deteriorate into arguments with know-it-all consumers who were "told by the head klaviermeister at Bechendorthner that tuning pins must be screwed in from the bottom up, and he knows more than you do, so there...." and salesmen claiming to be technicians telling you that Samwreck pianos are better than Steinwreck pianos because......". They will get away with it for three reasons: the owner doesn't actively moderate the forum, he wouldn't know how to anyway, and members who pay are never taken to task for the things they do. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>About 2 years ago several members left PianoWorld for these very reasons, many of them very good technicians. It is, in my opinion, a case of the inmates running the nuthouse. Those of us who left include technicians as well as several manufacturer's service department heads. We have built a forum similar to PianoWorld, but with several significant differences. 1, the technician's forum, as well as the piano forum, are both moderated by technicians. 2, consumers who want to post in the technician's forum are kept on a leash - they can ask questions, they can make comments, but they are not allowed to influence the discussions with novice input, or argue with those who know what they are talking about. 3, our membership has several industry people from the manufacturer's level involved, with several more wanting to join, but waiting to make sure it isn't going to become a circus the way PianoWorld has become. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>We actively work at keeping the information accurate and the discussions on topic. It's just beginning to build, but you are all invited to join in if you'd like a place similar to PianoWorld in format but without all the clutter of egos, politics, and salesmen. If you'd like to join us, here's the link:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.armleg.com/forum/index.php?mforum=pianosinc">http://www.armleg.com/forum/index.php?mforum=pianosinc</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Lest anyone think I'm merely interested in "plugging my site", let me go on record as saying that you should most definitely not make my site or any other website your main source. You should keep the format you have here alive, because it is the only place your information is certain to be safe in the future.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV></BODY></HTML>