Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/05/11

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Subject: RE: [Leica]-why the silence of the majority
From: Alan Ball <AlanBall@csi.com>
Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 08:33:15 +0200

No one elected me to say this, but the silence of other folks from the LUG 
'majority' might be due to same type of reasons as mine (random order):

1.Lack of time: it is time consuming to read the list, it is even more time 
consuming to respond or contribute.

2. 'Unfair' circumstances: seems some of the 'non-silent LUGgers' are 
either supersonic writers or have unlimited hours of free time. Since some 
of the most frequent signatures also pop up in various other 
forums/newsgroups, I wonder if there is not a breed of 'professional 
posters' out there. And I wonder even more what is the ratio between their 
Internet time and their photography time. Difficult to initiate a debate 
and to remain capable of answering/challenging the avalanche. This is not 
really LUG-specific.

3. Wariness : I've experienced the unpleasant tension that comes when 
'daring' to post contributions that are not moulded in the 'authentic 
LUGger old boy' syntax and references. And do not over-appreciate being   
asked to 'humble down' by arguments such as 'me pro, me know, you 
ignorant'. I have certain credentials in my field of work (which includes 
editorial responsibilities and imaging activities BTW), but would never for 
1 second believe that someone who does not show the same credentials before 
speaking is less able, informed or efficient than myself in the same field. 
The 'credentials' argument is overused by some LUGgers and intimidates many 
people.

4. Happy reader: another reason for (relative) silence on my account is the 
fact that the LUG is not only dotted with fanatism or intellectual 
terrorism but is also filled with useful information, funny details, early 
annoucement of new products and informed historical background. I am thus, 
all in all, very thankful to the LUG as a whole and have grown to really 
respect the high level of quality of the input from some of the 
contributors. It is true that that type of input could/should (and anyway 
deserve to) influence decisions at the Leica HQ level. This is quite 
LUG-specific.

Again, I represent only myself and (but) just spent over 30 minutes writing 
this down and re-reading it, thus re-inforcing my preconceptions as in 
point 2 hereabove ;-/

Hope this contributes to adjust the 'image' of the silent. And now, I'll 
have to catch up on my other activities.

Have a nice day.

Alan
Brussels-Belgium


On Tuesday, May 12, 1998 1:25 AM, adrian bradshaw 
[SMTP:abpeking@public.bta.net.cn] wrote:
> Good plan - I guess I just thought LUG might be a place where we could
> thrash out a few ideas and in some small way influence the way Leica 
goes. I
> wonder though how representative of the typical Leica owners we are as a
> group? In any case the majority are silent so we just can't tell...