 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Editorial Ash Nallawalla ash@melbpc.org.au |
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This Issue
This issue is supposed to have Employment as its theme. Not one
article on this theme has been received from members.
Future Issues
I am loathe to suggest themes for future issues as most of you
non-contributors (except for beginners and those who donate their time to the club in other ways) cannot be
relied upon to write anything, let alone to a theme. Anyway here are some article suggestions: "How I
installed two hard disks (or two monitors) in my machine", "How do I find out whether my machine is an XT or
whether my machine supports EGA", "How to..." etc. I have started an exchange of articles with the Perth and
Canberra groups' editors, but if we have nothing to offer we cannot expect anything in return.
This Magazine
I am not ready to resign the editorship in disgust - not yet. Most club
magazine editors last a year or two and then some other turkey comes along until he/she loses patience. The
magazine's quality suffers. The silent majority does not care. They just don't bother renewing if things
don't please them. Membership losses flow back to the magazine and other services, and the circle gets
smaller. There are times when I wonder why I keep it up. Is it the perceived thrill of having a $25,000 plus
system provided by the club? No, one soon gets used to this equipment and it is no longer a thrill. In fact
it is a liability because one cannot return to a slow 4.77 MHz XT and I would probably want to buy a
comparable system after I go. (David J. do you agree?) I have access to similar technology at work, so I
can't say I wanted the club's equipment to publish material 'on the side' - where's the time anyway?
Paid Staff?
Other large clubs have found that they need more paid staff to keep up the
momentum. The Canberra group has a circulation of about 1750 and it has just advertised for a Design Editor
who will be paid a proper salary. (I am not offering my full-time services.) Our paid Administrative Officer
is only a part-timer, and he has his hands full trying to process 10-15 new memberships, several renewals,
public domain orders, odd jobs, banking etc in his daily five-hour quota. Some members have already suggested
doubling the subscription rate, but this would result in many people not being able to afford to renew. I
would prefer to see the membership double instead. Perhaps we need to pay commissions to members who get us
advertising or other revenue; the committee members should perhaps be eligible for payment unlike the present
limitation; we need someone with the time (and ability) to approach companies for donations, sponsorships,
articles, advertising etc; we need someone to coordinate a planned advertising campaign, etc. OK, there are
certain things we cannot do as a non-profit body, but there are other things that we probably can. We
volunteers reach that "can't be bothered" stage too quickly for the club's good. The last issue came within
$300 or so of breaking even, but it was slim and full of ads - we're improving, but we have a long way to
go.
Bill Gates
About 350 members attended the technical briefing given by Bill Gates on 25
October. For those who missed the event, a near-verbatim transcript (with minimal editing) has been prepared
by Gordon Randall. I didn't understand a lot of what he had to say, and reading the transcript only helped a
little more. Nevertheless, it was good to see a busy executive donate some of his time for us.
November Meeting
Someone was horrified that the two presentations were 'blatant advertising'
- as I have implied before, in a volunteer-run club we can neither pay guest speakers nor be too choosy about
whom we get at the last minute (when the scheduled topic could not be arranged). Many people don't mind
'blatant advertising' - last year some lucky attendees received a free V20 chip. This also goes for paying
people to write for us. I have managed to give authors a $20 PD software voucher as a meagre token of our
appreciation - perhaps we should treat articles as shareware and we should each send the author of a good
article a five dollar note if we like it! By the way, meeting attendees are welcome to use the bar upstairs
and have dinner after the meeting (bookings made before the meeting).
OS/2?
I doubt I could afford (at today's prices) a machine for home use that could
run OS/2, as most experts recommend at least 4 MB RAM, >50 MB fast hard disk, preferably a 386 CPU, VGA if
I want Presentation Manager - how much does that add up to? Home users have no need to upgrade if their
present equipment does the job, but commercial magazines are often aimed at people who specify equipment for
their employers, so they have to recommend the latest and presumably the most suitable machines. Even this
magazine has readers who own real IBMs and that too of the PS/2 50 variety, so I will be obliged to accept
articles that mention new technology that even I cannot afford.
Questionnaire
Only about 50 people have bothered to fill out and mail me the questionnaire. How about you? Why not fill it out when you order public domain software or when you want me to type in your free ad? Early responses indicate that about 50 people don't read the Pascal and C pages; about 50 people joined for the magazine and public domain software; about 10 are beginners; many don't know what lurks under the PC's cabinet; many liked Stephen Davey's November article (next one will be in the Jan/Feb issue); some would like to see a new member's kit; some would like a glossary explaining all these acronyms we take for granted. All good comments. Some of you still believe I toss out beginner articles in favour of more technical ones - I usually publish all I have, as you could have guessed in the last issue. I hope to analyse and publish the results in the new year. Please mail your questionnaires to the club address this time.
Merry Christmas and drive safely if you are going away.
Reprinted from the December 1988 issue of PC Update, the
magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
