<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:dt="uuid:C2F41010-65B3-11d1-A29F-00AA00C14882" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta name="Microsoft Theme 2.00" content="sumipntg 111"><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 14 (filtered medium)"><style></style></head><body bgcolor=white background="cid:image001.jpg@01CC46B5.F1D51400" lang=EN-US link="#660099" vlink="#993366"><img src="cid:image001.jpg@01CC46B5.F1D51400" v:src="cid:image001.jpg@01CC46B5.F1D51400" v:shapes="_x0000_Mail" width=0 height=0 class=shape style='display:none;width:0;height:0'><div class=WordSection1><o:p> </o:p>Dear Isreal:<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>Hmmmm…. “:fellow luddites”, “horse and buggy drivers complaining how difficult it is to start a car”, “horseshit”, “can the attitude”, “small but loud group who refuse to develop basic web skills” “files YOU PEOPLE were shoving onto my computer (caps added by me, wow, a conspiracy, what fun!) “massaging each other’s egos”<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>And now for the real kicker, “the relatively minor glitches that any paradigm shift entails”. PARADIGM SHIFT?????!!!!!!!!, Isn’t that a bit like a 2 ½ foot tall guy dunking the ball into a basket 2 feet off the ground and claiming “player of the year?”<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>Jon Page doesn’t need me to defend him and I won’t speak for him. I will say that I have met Jon and spent a little time with him, and have followed his posts on the forum over the past years. Somehow, luddite never enters my mind when I think of Jon. And please note that the group of people you describe as luddites and horse and buggy drivers includes the following people, if we are including those who have expressed their lack of enthusiasm for the new forum: Del Fandrich, Ron Nossaman, Dale Erwin, David Andersen, and David Love; amongst many ohers.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>I admire both Del and Ron for their approach to problem solving and design, because they so well apply these variations on “Occam’s Razor”, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication” and “Entities must not be multiplied beyond necessity”. It is always a sign of an elegant and penetrating mind to seek the simplest and most direct solution.that fulfills all necessary criteria. <o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>I think this saying from Saint Thomas Aquinas is most topical when thinking of software, particularly the HL PIanotech web software: "If a thing can be done adequately by means of one, it is superfluous to do it by means of several; for we observe that nature does not employ two instruments [if] one suffice”. That’s a pretty good measure for any software interface design. By that measure, to claim that the new HL forum software represents a paradigm shift is laughable. <o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>Will Truitt<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p> <o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p><o:p> </o:p>Jon, Number one, please can the attitude. It was obvious at the Council; and at the convention in KC that this is a huge step forward for the PTG on quite a few levels that is well received by many members - and you and your fellow luddites are starting to sound like a bunch of horse-and-buggy drivers complaining how difficult it is to start and maintain a car. Personally, I got tired of putting up with the horseshit on the old list... If the PTG  just caters to you and those "rank-and-file" members (from the convention it appears that this is a relatively small - but loud - group) who refuse to develop basic web skills using which this new format becomes far superior to those old lists - we really limit our capabilities as an organization and as a source of knowledge and information. As far as I am concerned, I am off that old monstrosity of the Pianotech list and I'm never looking back - along with all the others who got tired of having to weed through dozens of posts (including countless duplications) to find the one kernel of useful information that has not been repeated ad nauseum in the years of the list's existence (and hoping that the files that you people were shoving onto my computer - whether I want them or not - don't have a worm hitch hiking on them). I sincerely hope that the PTG moves it over onto Google or Yahoo or something, and you guys can keep massaging each other's egos as to how "important" all your "communications" are. I am (and many others are) quite happy with this web-based system, where I get a synopsis of all the posts in all the lists I am interested in, and can go look at whatever draws my attention without having to plod through a bunch of other stuff. And I'll put up with the relatively minor glitches that any paradigm shift entails. Now, the ExamPrep list has always been a separate list, requiring a separate subscription (which was, by the way a lot more complicated than pushing a radio button, which is all that is required here) and very close supervision - to make sure that no misinformation gets on it (which is what you get a lot of on Pianotech). So if you think you are ever going to get detailed and accurate exam information from people who actually know something about it on a general Pianotech list - well, it never happened and never will happen, not on a list that is accessible to non-members. The PTG has always had specialized lists, and this was one of them. And will be a specialized discussion as soon as we can get the bugs straightened out. And, watching the old list function, I know that an awful lot of people were using the archives - instead of posting questions to the list. Our new Associates are increasingly tech-savvy and know how to use web tools in the most efficient manner possible. So we develop tools that look to the future... ------------------------------------------- Israel Stein RPT A-Major Piano Services Albany, CA 94706 510-558-0777 <a href="mailto:custos3@comcast.net">custos3@comcast.net</a> <o:p></o:p></div></body></html>