On Mon, 25 Jan 1999, Hans Franke wrote:
> > 5. The ten year rule should apply to the date when a thing dropped off
> > in popularity; if it was still in common use eight years ago, it is
> > not yet classic. (Justification: if it is still in common use,
> > there will be other places to discuss it.)
>
> If we go for an 'exact' date, I think the mfg date of the
> specific unit is the only possible anchor - just think of
> machines like the A2 - acording to your definition it wont
> qualify. I would even go one step further and use the date
> of first production as base for the rule (as often done
> within the list - best practice rule). Just remember that
> new machines always have been escorted by a increased
> attention and speculation (no, not today :). This event
> itself is classic and part of the history, and the acording
> machine. No mater if the Mac is still in production or not,
> the small guy, saying "I'm glad to be out of this bag"
> _is_ classic, without any doubt.
The original intent of the 10 year rule has been lost upon the more recent
members of the list. Bill Whitson created the Ten Year Rule to prevent
this forum from becoming just another PC discussion group. He wanted the
discussion to stay generally on the topic of discussing old computers. So
by making the charter preclude discussion of computers under 10 years old,
he hoped to avoid people fielding boring questions that are better asked
elsewhere, in forums that are specifically catered to those particular
needs.
Since there was no specific forum for discussing old computers that wasn't
susceptible to spam and noise (i.e. alt.folklore.computers doesn't
qualify) he wanted to create one where people would be required to take
their contemporary junk elsewhere. I don't think the intent of the rule
was ever to totally and unequivocally deny discussions of interesting
contemporary stuff, or to disallow asking the occasional emergency help
question for PC or Mac related stuff (I'm very glad for that because this
is the smartest group of people I know to exist on the planet and I have
taken advantage of this fact by fielding the occasional modern day PC
question when I needed a quick answer).
So, I know it would be futile to hope this permanently recurring thread
would stop recurring, but if everyone would just keep this in mind, and we
would finally have a FAQ that would be required reading to all new-comers
that explains this before they are allowed to post, then I think we could
finally put this issue to rest...permanently.
Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar_at_siconic.com
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Received on Mon Jan 25 1999 - 13:01:04 GMT