but sad sad sad
Certainly is. We named those cats after what we thought would be the two surviving internet players after the massacre. I believe this was back in 98.
Such is country life, though, that you really get used to pets just coming and going. Just the other day, while working on the workshop, we encountered the skeletal remains of another cat. There was just enough fur left on the tail that Darth positively identified it as one of our former house cats who disappeared shortly after being made an outdoor cat (I can't tolerate animals urinating on my carpets -- they can use their toilets or the land outside -- same as me). We were sad but probably didn't shed a tear between us. Darth gave her a decent burial next to "Peanut" (lot of tears involved with that one).
It could be that my account there is terminated because, Naveen, with his limited command of the language, misconstrued that post as a threat.
but now i'am "in fear" that even here i may anger Si,
so i'll stay quiet. Yes, not nice to be this way.
I think that's a valid fear and a sad commentary.
In some ways, they act like they're backed into a corner. What's really sad is that they're not. They're still right smack on the top of the mountain in a lot of ways that're very relevant and if they understood online communities they could capitalize on that.
Heck, I'm sure an executive at INSP will end up reading this, so let me re-iterate that more clearly: "You, Mr. Executive, have what pundits once described as 'the racehorse in Go2Net's stables' and that racehorse is still the best horse around in many ways. Quit breaking its legs! And tend to your own horse instead of worrying about the neighbor's horses. You don't understand 'horses' well enough to handle the load of worrying about more than one of them."
They really should hire someone who understands online communities. Actually, Mr. Guthertz over there does understand them, but he's not empowered. They should promote him to the top dog position at SI, enable him to make decisions, and not let anyone interfere with him unless they have the phrase "profitable BBS" on their resume. Or hire someone that does and have them run the show. Actually, from what I've seen, Mr. Busby may very well have evolved into just such a person. And he learned the hard way. Best of all, he listens. To those around him and to the community.
Even believing as I do that those words will find their way to an exec at INSP, I know it doesn't do any good. The mindset has always been to ignore advice, and especially ignore or get rid of anyone who has an iota of knowledge about online communities,
From day one of GNET/SI, it's been downhill, and not coincidentally, it went along with removing or disempowering the people who understood online communities. Brad and Jeff lost control pretty early. Then Jill was promoted away from SI. Then Mr. Burdick (last I heard, he was with RB -- is it's own self-inflicted harm a coincidence?) decided to learn about online communities through trial and error rather than listening to anyone on board who already understood them. Then I was laid off along with a new boss who definitely knew what she was doing (she was only there a few weeks and I have no doubt she's a big part of why Classmates.com has now achieved such prominence -- Hi, Shannon, if you're reading this).
I've said before that they've got plenty to worry about over there. Sad thing is, they'll never figure out that they're the problem, not some upstart site that should've never had a chance.
Edit: Brad Dryer was removed from the mix while SI was still in development. I don't think for a moment that I'm a more clever programmer than he is. SI's software stopped evolving once he lost control. Had he still been at the programming helm these past 4 years, what we have here couldn't hold a candle to what SI's software would've become.
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